HERSHEY KISSES COKE STASH GOODBYE

Sniffing out more than $2-million worth of cocaine should earn border agent
dog Hershey a kiss, say his handlers.

On Dec. 23, the eight-year-old chocolate lab was putting his nose to a
utility trailer attempting to cross into Alberta at the port of Del Bonita
when he noticed something.

When agents at the border crossing 200 km south of Calgary took over, they
found about 22 kg of cocaine concealed inside a false wall of the trailer
and arrested two men.

"He'll have gotten a pat on the head and I imagine an extra treat," said
Ron Quinn, spokesman for Canada Border Services Agency.

"That's what they're trained to do and they're well-trained."

The perceptive canine was on duty that day at Del Bonita because his normal
posting, the Coutts crossing, was closed due to the presence of a
suspicious package that turned out to be a false alarm, said Quinn.

The size of the bust is an eye-opener, he added.

"For Alberta, this is a large seizure and for Del Bonita, it would be very
significant," said Quinn.

Hershey, who's rotated throughout Alberta's border with Montana to ferret
out drugs and firearms, is one of three such animals employed by the
federal agency in Alberta.

Jason Burroughs, 28, of Calgary and Jason Bjelland, 30, of Brooks, face
several drug-related charges.

They were to have appeared in court in Calgary yesterday.

Police also recorded another large seizure of drugs over the holidays, this
time spelling the end of a large marijuana growing operation in Calgary's
northwest.

Tuesday's raid netted one of the biggest marijuana busts in Calgary's
history, netting 2,090 plants -- with an estimated street value of $2.9
million -- pulled from a Scenic Acres home.

Acting on a tip, the joint-force Calgary Police Service and RCMP "green
team" brought down the hydroponic operation in the 100 block of Schiller
Cres. N.W., bringing the city's total pot-bust haul for 2003 to $53.5 million.

"It's definitely one of the biggest we've had," said Calgary drug unit
acting Staff-Sgt. Roger Morrison of the raid.

The plants, in all three stages of growth, would have meant a consistent
harvest every six weeks for the operators, who kept the house in prime
marijuana-growing condition.

"The house was clean and professionally done and a good temperature -- they
were definitely pros and knew what they were doing," said Morrison.