BETTER SECURITY HELPS THWART SMUGGLERS

Border Enforcement Team helps stop human smuggling operation

Smuggling -- drugs and people -- in and out of Canada and the U.S. has gone
on for as long as there's been a border, but thanks to enhanced security,
more offenders are being caught.

Eleven people are in custody in Calgary after a weekend attempt to smuggle a
group of Korean nationals on foot from Canada into the U.S. was thwarted by
authorities at the Coutts-Sweetgrass border.

Last month two Edmonton men were charged in connection with a $9-million
cocaine bust when custom officials found 69 kilograms of the drug concealed
in the false floor of a trailer entering the country.

"More of these types of incidents are coming to the forefront," said Const.
Jeff Smith, with the eight-member Rocky Mountain Integrated Border
Enforcement Team.

"Is there a smuggling problem going on between the two countries?
Absolutely. Has it reached epidemic proportions? Absolutely not. . . but
short of putting a wall between the two countries there's always going to be
(smuggling), there always has been."

Just after 10 p.m. Smith's team was contacted by the U.S. Customs and Border
Patrol Agency to report a group of people attempting to illegally cross the
border into the U.S.

Two Korean males, both in their late 20s, were initially apprehended -- one
on each side of the Alberta-Montana border -- and Canadian officials
recovered seven female Republic of Korea passports.

Members of the Immigration and Passport Section of the Calgary RCMP later
located three Korean men and seven Korean women ranging in age from 20 to 30
years in a Vulcan-area motel

The passports for six of the women were among those previously recovered.

The man detained by U.S. officials remains in custody in Montana and those
arrested in Canada are being held at the Calgary Remand Centre pending
further investigation.

Officials with Citizenship and Immigration are trying to determine if any of
those being held were in this country legally.

"The majority do not have any permanent status in Canada," said Smith. "It's
unknown at this time what their intention was entering the U.S."

It's also unknown if any money was exchanged but Smith added an undetermined
number of people did make it into the U.S.

Police on both sides of the border continue to investigate and no charges
have been laid.

"As a result of 9/11 the integrity of the border has definitely been
enhanced. U.S. border patrol in Alberta and Montana has increased
four-fold," said Smith.

"With the increase of enforcement more intelligence, more information is
coming to the forefront. Over the last months there's been a number of
substantial drug seizures."

"Any kind of illegal activity between the two countries ranks high. We try
and be diligent and apprehend as many offenders as possible."

Smith added many of those being smuggled tend to come from third world
countries in search of a better life and they often spend thousands of
dollars, sometimes their life savings, to get here.