DRUGS IN A WING HAVE NO PRAYER

Officers Discover Bricks Of Cocaine, Hashish In 767

A stash of drugs was found late last month taped to the wing of a
Boeing 767, inside the aircraft's fuel panel.

Whether the drugs were destined for Vancouver is in question, but
there's little doubt the drugs were hidden by someone with airport
security clearance.

According to the Canada Border Services Agency, their officers
inspected the plane on June 27 following a flight into Vancouver
International Airport from Sydney, Australia via Hawaii.

One brick of hashish, weighing more than 369 grams, and two bricks of
cocaine weighing 706 grams were seized.

Aside from saying the plane was a commercial airliner, border
officials aren't naming the airline.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Rick Hermann, of the border integrity unit at
Vancouver International Airport, said this type of smuggling isn't
uncommon. He said there is some level of organization to this
enterprise as the stashing and pickups have to be coordinated.

He said that sometimes, the drugs are stashed, and not immediately
picked up and remain aboard the plane until it is discovered by
inspectors. A package's age can be assessed from the weathering and
wear patterns. In some cases, the drugs have been discovered after
multiple trips around the world.

He said that judging from the airplane's itinerary, it doesn't make
sense that the drugs would be coming from Australia, which isn't known
as a source country.

That's what leads him to suspect the drugs may have been hidden for
some time.

Hermann pointed out that late last year, nearly two dozen airport
employees at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York were arrested after
federal agents found more than 400 kilograms of cocaine and hundreds
of pounds of marijuana arriving at the airport on international flights.

Some of the employees arrested in late November of 2003 were working
for Globe Ground North America, which also currently refuels airplanes
at Vancouver International Airport.

Dan Kibsey, a union counsellor for Local 5 of the Pulp Paper and
Woodworkers of Canada which represents Globe Ground workers at
Vancouver International, said he read about this incident in the
newspapers on Wednesday and has no first-hand information. What
happened in this particular case may never be known.

Among the avenues being pursued by local police investigators are the
plane's previous landing spots prior to leaving Australia.

"In a lot of cases, we never do find out," Hermann said.