CANADA ROLLING IN HIGH-GRADE POT

A hijacked truck found on the Massachusetts Turnpike hauling $3 million of
super-powered homegrown marijuana is just the tip of the iceberg of high
grade ``hydro'' weed slipping across the Canadian border and into the Bay
State, officials say.

A hijacked truck found on the Massachusetts Turnpike hauling $3 million of
super-powered homegrown marijuana is just the tip of the iceberg of high
grade ``hydro'' weed slipping across the Canadian border and into the Bay
State, officials say.

``They're masking it in legitimate loads (of merchandise) and it's destined
for New England,'' said Sgt. John Brooks of the state police narcotics
inspection unit.

Police say the pair, both natives of India with valid Ontario driver's
licenses and Canadian work visas, fought off the masked thieves who
commandeered the truck at gunpoint on the Pike westbound near Exit 12.
During the melee, the truck rumbled off the road and slammed into trees in
the woods.

Witnesses told cops they saw masked gunmen run from the wreck and hop into a
white van that sped off. The hijackers, who were still at large last night,
spoke Chinese, Chahal told police.

According to their lawyer, Geoffrey G. Nathan, Chahal and Cheema didn't know
there were drugs in the trailer. Both were ordered held on $150,000 cash
bail after their arraignment yesterday in Framingham District Court.

Police say the pair drove the pot-packed rig from Toronto and were
supposedly en route to North Carolina to deliver a load of industrial paper
rolls for Ontario Inc., a trucking company.

Ontario Inc. officials told police the pair had no business in
Massachusetts. When asked why they were in the Boston area, Cheema and
Chahal told investigators they were ``lost,'' Trooper Paul Belanger said.

The ``Canadian hydro,'' which was being smuggled in boxes and trash bags, is
grown using high-powered lighting in specially equipped warehouses in
Canada, Brooks said.

The technique maximizes the potency of the cannabis plant's buds and
increases the level of THC - marijuana's active ingredient. While
organically grown marijuana imported from Mexico sells for between $1,000
and $2,000 per pound, the Canadian strain fetches $5,000 a pound on the
streets.

``It's much more potent than the Mexican stuff. It's of a very high-grade,''
Brooks said.

In addition to this weekend's bust, state cops have seized two other
Canadian truckloads of weed recently, including one stashed in a load of
furniture, Brooks said.

Besides funneling industrial grown Canadian pot into the region, some
dealers are flying their drugs to Canada and then driving it over the
northern border, rather than risk losing it at the historically tighter
Mexican border.``We've seen it a lot lately,'' Brooks said.

But U.S. Customs officials say the border is being tightened daily,
especially since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. More high-tech monitoring
equipment is in use and staffing has been increased, which has allowed for
stricter scrutiny and more vehicle searches.

``The Canadian and American governments have been working very closely to
heighten security at that border,'' said Customs spokesman James Michie.
``It's getting better and better every day.''

Federal officials have hinted at a further clampdown as Canadian authorities
take steps to decriminalize marijuana. A bill pending in the Canadian
legislature would fine people for pot possession and reduce criminal
penalties against those growing up to 25 marijuana plants.