FASHION BUZZ

Smugglers Soak Clothes in Cocaine, Heroin

Drug officers at Pearson airport are on alert for a smuggler's trick that
is making a comeback -- dissolving cocaine or heroin in water and then
soaking the liquid into clothes.

"This happens from time to time," said Mark Butler, Canada Customs
spokesman. "Our officers know what to look for."

In the past, the technique was a trademark of the Colombian cartel.

The drug is extracted from the fabric after the clothing arrives at its
destination.

U.S. police on Wednesday seized hundreds of kilos of cocaine after three
crates of clothing, place mats and furniture arrived at Kennedy
International Airport in New York from Colombia. One person was charged. IN
LUGGAGE

Smugglers also appear to be turning to single women as couriers.

Three women were arrested in the last month at Pearson airport after
arriving with cocaine hidden in their suitcases, Butler said.

Officers said a U.S. woman arriving from Costa Rica was arrested this week
with more than 5 kilos of cocaine, worth about $1 million, hidden in false
sides of her luggage.

"It is a significant amount of cocaine," Butler said.

Muneca Depaula, 36, of Miami, was charged by the RCMP with importing a
controlled substance.

She will be deported if she's convicted.

Police said most of the drugs are destined for the U.S.