EMPLOYEES ARE UNEASY

The Drugs Are In The Mail

We've all heard of e-mail, snail mail and junk mail -- but drug mail?
Workers at the Gateway International Mail Processing Centre in
Mississauga are growing used to it. Customs officers there have
intercepted a record amount of illegal drugs in the mail, including
the seizure of more than $1.3 million of cocaine and opium this month.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Cpl. Patrice Gelinas confirmed
Friday one arrest has been made in the case, with others to follow.
Gelinas wouldn't reveal the name of the accused because he has yet to
be charged officially in provincial court.

The cocaine and opium were mailed from abroad and arrived at the
Gateway Postal Facility hidden in shipments of chocolates, according
to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) spokesperson Patrizia Giolti.

On June 1 and 6, Canada Customs inspectors discovered cocaine in two
separate shipments of chocolates from Costa Rica. Six kilograms of the
addictive white powder worth a total of $740,000 was found in the
first shipment, while another four kilograms were discovered in the
second shipment with a street value of about $538,000, said Giolti.

"It has definitely made for an uneasy working environment," said a
Canada Post mail sorter at the centre on Dixie Rd. and Eglinton Ave.,
who asked to be identified only as Frank. "(Employees) here think
they're going to be a witness in a court case or something if the
package they handled is stuffed with drugs. We try not to worry about
it, but it's hard."

The seizures in 2004 have already exceeded that of previous years.