DRUG CHARGE LANDS BLACK BEARS IN REHAB CENTER

ARLINGTON - They helped smuggle drugs across the Canadian border, and now
they're behind bars.

But nobody blames Corky and Pumpkin for helping conceal 166 pounds of
marijuana in their travel trailer.

The female black bears are enjoying an indefinite stay at the Sarvey
Wildlife Center near Arlington while federal prosecutors handle the case of
Duane Bradley, a 23-year-old British Columbia man busted last week at the
Blaine border crossing. He was charged Monday in U.S. District Court in
Seattle with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

U.S. Customs agents say Bradley had smuggled drugs into the United States
about 10 times, using lions, cougars and bears as camouflage.

He allegedly built a false floor and wall into the animal-transport
trailer, where a drug-sniffing border dog last week found the pot - worth
an estimated $500,000 on the street - and $180,000 in U.S. cash, according
to court papers.

Additional arrests are expected in the case, Customs spokesman Michael
Milne said.

Corky and Pumpkin, both 7, have moved into the bear den at Sarvey, a
state-sanctioned rehabilitation center for large animals. Its last
occupant, an orphaned bear cub, spent about eight months at Sarvey before
it was released into the wild in November.

The new residents, who are quite overweight, won't be released, however.

"We are assuming they were in captivity their whole life," said Brenda
Kolb, Sarvey's clinic director. "The owner said they were going down to
California to do a movie."

Federal agents are trying to establish who owns the bears. They apparently
belong to an animal dealer in Canada, and documents required for
transporting them across the border were in order, Milne said.