SELKIRK MAN FACES U.S. DRUG CHARGES

Customs Seizure Made After Routine Inspection

A 38-year-old Selkirk man is sitting in a Grand Forks jail cell charged
with smuggling almost 14 kilos of high-grade hydroponic marijuana into the
United States.

William Johnston was arrested Jan. 21 after U.S. Customs officers searched
a vehicle at the Pembina border crossing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Jordheim said Johnston faces federal charges
of drug possession with intent to distribute and knowingly importing drugs
into the U.S.

Jordheim said Johnston is currently being held in the Grand Forks County
Correctional Center and will go before a grand jury as the prosecution
seeks an indictment against him. A grand jury, which meets in secret,
reviews whether there's enough evidence to go to trial.

A U.S. Customs spokesman said the seizure was made after a routine
inspection of a pickup truck at the Pembina port of entry. A drug-sniffing
dog helped officers find 30 pounds of hydroponic pot, valued at $180,000
U.S., stashed in a gas tank.

Jordheim said the seizure was the second of its kind in the past several
months.

He said he could not comment on whether the suspect is associated with
organized crime.

However, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency claims indoor hydroponic drug
production in Canada is rising by leaps and bounds, producing marijuana
five times as potent as Mexican marijuana and sometimes as valuable as cocaine.

The DEA says Canadian officials estimate that cannabis cultivation in
British Columbia alone is a billion-dollar industry and that traffickers
smuggle a significant portion of the Canadian harvest into the U.S. where
they fetch high prices, or trade the dope for powdered cocaine.

The DEA says Canadian high-potency marijuana sells for $1,500 U.S. to
$2,000 U.S. per pound in Vancouver. Smuggled to Bellingham, Washington, the
price increases to about $3,000 U.S.; if brought to California, it can sell
for as much as $6,000. U.S. In New York City, Canadian marijuana has sold
for up to $8,000 U.S. per pound.

Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border point to the Hells
Angels motorcycle gang and Asian-based criminal gangs as being responsible
for a large part of the hydroponic marijuana trade.

U.S. Customs officials believe because of a crackdown on the B.C. border
with the U.S., smugglers are moving east, to Montana, North Dakota and
Minnesota.

In the past few months, Winnipeg police and RCMP have uncovered several
hydroponic grow operations, three located in upscale homes in Winnipeg.