WV COPS SAIL FERRIES LOOKING FOR DRUGS

WEST Vancouver Police Department used five drug-detecting dogs to sniff out
ferry-bound marijuana smugglers on Tuesday.

Dogs from five police forces joined in the aptly-named Operation High Seas
which took place on BC Ferries vessels travelling between Nanaimo and
Horseshoe Bay. The police operation led to eight arrests and the seizure of
7.2 kilograms (16 pounds) of marijuana, said Sgt. Bob Fontaine.

But the police action has drawn criticism from civil liberty watchdogs amid
allegations police overstepped their powers.

Fontaine said the department launched the operation, involving seven West
Vancouver officers along with five officers and dogs from other municipal
forces, to stem the flow of drugs through West Vancouver. He said the
"non-invasive" initiative took place on the ferry vehicle decks during
sailings while occupants were in other parts of the ship, explained
Fontaine. When drugs were detected police waited at a discreet distance to
make arrests once the owners had returned, he said.

Fontaine said there were seven seizures and eight arrests, but only three
people will be facing charges. In the first incident, a 43-year-old man and
30-year-old woman from Lasqueti Island were allegedly found with four
kilograms (nine pounds) of marijuana, and in the second a 37-year-old man
from Lantzville was found with 3.1 kilograms (seven pounds) of the drug.

"The dogs are trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin and
methamphetamines," said Fontaine. "People are not allowed in their vehicles
during the sailing, they are up top."

He dismissed allegations that the operation breached people's rights, saying
it set out to detect suspected drugs smugglers and no cars were opened in
their owners' absence.

But B.C. Civil Liberties Association research and communications assistant
Dave Eby said the police breached Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, which protects people from unreasonable searches. "The courts have
defined that the police need reasonable cause before they can do a search,"
he said. "It cannot be just on a hunch or a suspicion."

He said police need evidence before they search people's property, saying it
is wrong to claim this can come from a search by a police dog.

"Police do not have rights to check your car," he continued. "Roadblocks are
a special exception.

"If you are driving you have a reduced expectation to privacy. It feels
wrong that people are on the ferry with no idea the police are searching for
drugs. It feels like a police state. Saying people with nothing to hide have
nothing to fear sounds like something the East Germans would have said."

The association does not believe drugs should be illegal.