AIRPORT LANDS RECORD $1M IN DRUGS

It was a record-breaking year for drug busts at the Ottawa Airport
with customs officers nabbing about $1 million worth of narcotics last
year.

More than 40 seizures were made of illegal drugs, including cocaine,
ecstasy, steroids, khat, marijuana and hashish.

The biggest busts were made before Sept. 11, when security measures
were given a boost. Customs officers recovered about four kilos of
cocaine previously swallowed by drug smugglers between May and
September, leading to the arrest of five people and keeping some
31,000 street units of cocaine from hitting the streets.

Last year's drug busts easily beat the previous record of $510,000
worth of narcotics found at the airport in 1996.

"There's no logic why one year would be a record as opposed to
another," Pierre Marquis, spokesman for the Canada Customs and Revenue
Agency, said yesterday. "There are so many factors out there that make
it impossible to pinpoint why."

Marquis said the customs officers also stopped several people with
outstanding arrest warrants and helped recover kids wanted through the
national missing children's program.