$1M COKE IN PALLETS

Airport Bust Nets Drug Hidden in Wood

Customs officers say foreign drug lords are becoming more creative in
finding ways to smuggle dope into Canada. Pearson airport officers are
shaking their heads after finding eight kilos of cocaine, worth $1.1
million, hidden inside wood that formed false bottom floors on shipping
pallets.

The wood was hollowed out and packages of drugs stuffed inside, police said.

"It does happen, but it is rare," said Patrizia Giolti, of the Canada
Border Services Agency. "This is not something that occurs every day."

Giolti said the seizure occurred last Thursday as the pallets containing
goods were being off-loaded from a jet.

"The drugs were found by our inspectors," she said. "There's no indication
this was part of an internal conspiracy."

Giolti refused to disclose what country the cocaine was coming from, or
where it was destined.

She said the seizure is being investigated by the RCMP.

Police suspect the cocaine was to be removed from the pallets and
distributed on the streets of Toronto.

Customs officers at Pearson have made more than 280 drug seizures, finding
drugs worth more than $37 million, since last January, Giolti said.

Police said nearly all the cocaine that ends up in Canada originates in
Colombia.