POLICE TRYING TO TIE SEIZED $650,000 TO DRUG TRADE

Two Quebec men remain in custody more than a month after they were
arrested by RCMP with $650,000 in $100 bills during a routine traffic
stop.

It's the second-largest cash seizure in Manitoba and now a specialized
police squad is trying to verify what many suspect -- the money is
tied to the Canadian drug trade.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Steve Saunders said yesterday the integrated
proceeds of crime unit is investigating the origin of the bundle of
cash and where it was headed.

Saunders said the money is believed to have come from Quebec and was
headed west to Edmonton when it was intercepted by Mounties Dec. 4.

It was found in the sleeper of a semi-tractor truck which had been
contracted to haul a load of mail for Canada Post.

Saunders said the truck was pulled over at a Mountie check stop at
Highways 16 and 10 near Minnedosa. Officers were conducting the check
stop to enforce traffic and Criminal Code laws. He said police became
suspicious and found the money when searching the truck.

The largest seizure of money happened May 25, 1996 when RCMP stopped a
1992 Buick on the Trans Canada Highway near West Hawk Lake and found
$2.3 million in cash stashed in suitcases in the trunk and back seat.
Two loaded .357 Magnum handguns, several knives, a collapsible baton,
several explosive charges and two SSS-1 weapons; single-shot guns that
look like pens were also found.

Investigators later traced the money to the illicit cocaine trade
after five marked $20 bills seized in the search were traced to police
undercover sting operations in Vancouver, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Police have long said criminals uses the country's highways to
transport drug money and drugs. Over the past two years, RCMP in
Manitoba have made record seizures of marijuana being trucked to
Eastern Canada from British Columbia.