POLICE DEAL WITH HELICOPTER MYSTERY

Although investigators have confirmed the suspicious nature of the landing
of two helicopters on Penticton Indian Band reserve land, they will not say
whether the landings are drug-related.

"Our members are trying to determine where they came from, how they got
there, who got them there, where they've been, if they've been involved in
criminal activity and the purpose of why those helicopters are there," said
Const. Alex Borden from the E Division Border Integrity Unit in the Lower
Mainland, speaking on behalf of the RCMP.

The first helicopter landed on the northerly most portion of the Penticton
Indian Band reserve on Nov. 11 near where two members of the band were
chopping wood. A man carrying a duffel bag jumped out of the aircraft and
ran up to one of the men, exclaiming, "you're not my ride" before taking
off on foot toward Isintok Road, a private road on band land, said Chief
Stewart Phillip.

Tribal police were called to the site and in turn informed RCMP. While
flying to the site of the abandoned aircraft, RCMP discovered a second
abandoned helicopter in close proximity to the first, said Phillip Monday.

It is still unclear whether the helicopters crossed the U.S. border, but
the Global Positioning systems of the helicopters have been removed to try
and track their flight patterns, said Phillip.

"A helicopter could be used to go anywhere," said Borden.

In the past the Border Integrity Unit has seen incidents of organized crime
and cross-border drug trafficking, he said.

"We have received intelligence with regards to B.C. bud going to the United
States in exchange for firearms or cocaine or cash," said Borden. "It's a
commodity. There is an appetite for B.C. bud south of the border."

Phillip said drugs have become a major problem on the reserve.