HIGH SEAS DRUG BUST

Canuck Warship Leads Raid

OTTAWA -- Canadian sailors are on a high after blowing up $72 million
in opium and hashish.

Commodore Jean-Pierre Thiffault, commander of the Canadian Forces
fight against terrorism, said the sailors of HMCS Toronto led the
high-seas drug bust Wednesday.

Thiffault said the take-down ended in an impressive show of firepower
yesterday when the frigate used the drug boat for target practice.

"They took advantage of the opportunity to do a bit of gun practice,"
Thiffault said in an interview from coalition headquarters in Tampa,
Fla.

The frigate first spotted a dhow -- a local sailing vessel -- towing
a speedboat in international waters off Pakistan Wednesday.

They boarded when two men jumped into the speedboat and abandoned the
dhow with its motors running.

The boarding party uncovered about 90 bags stuffed with plastic
packages stamped with the phrase "Freedom of Afghanistan."

TOWED TO SEA

Those contained two tonnes of opium and hashish, estimated to have a
street value of $41 million to $72 million.

Coalition intelligence officers combed through the shipment to
determine whether the drugs were linked to al-Qaida or Taliban
suspects.

Thiffault said there was nowhere to dock the dhow, so the Canadian
sailors towed it out further to sea.

HMCS Toronto then unleashed her 57-mm guns on the boat, sinking it
and its drug cargo.