DRUG SMUGGLERS BACK IN BUSINESS AT PEARSON

Smuggling Appeared To Have Taken An Hiatus After Sept. 11

Drug smugglers appear to be back in business at Pearson International
Airport after a hiatus following the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11.

Canada Customs officers have made eight significant cocaine busts in
the past seven days, seizing what they say is nearly $4 million worth
of the drug from travellers arriving at the airport.

Altogether, 36 people have been arrested in the past two months for
trying to smuggle cocaine into Canada at Pearson and the latest busts
bring the total value seized since October to nearly $13 million.

"There's no question there's no longer any slowdown in the drug
trade. There's just too much money to be made," said Staff Sergeant
Bill Matheson of the RCMP's Airport drug unit.

So far this year, cocaine worth $45 million has been seized in 154
different drug busts by Canada Customs inspectors at Pearson.

Canada Customs and RCMP officers noticed a dramatic decrease in drug
smuggling in the days immediately following the terrorist attacks in
New York and Washington. U.S. Customs officials also reported a
marked decrease in smuggling activity at major American airports as
well.

"I think what we saw was that the smugglers decided it probably
wasn't wise to try and smuggle anything in because of the increased
surveillance at Pearson," Canada Customs spokesperson Mark Butler
said.

In the latest bust, Customs inspectors found 12 kilos of cocaine
worth an estimated street value of $2.4 million concealed in the two
suitcases belonging to a Montreal woman after she arrived at Pearson
on Sunday. That same day, approximately 1 kilo of cocaine was also
found hidden in a false compartment of a pot carried in the luggage
of a St. Catharines woman.

Last Friday, a Cambridge man was charged after inspectors discovered
he not only had swallowed drugs but also had hidden 700 grams of
cocaine in his shoes.

On Nov. 26, inspectors seized 2.8 kilos of cocaine in a suitcase of a
Jamaican man as well as $560,000 worth of cocaine strapped to his
body. That same day, about 275 grams of cocaine were seized from a
Toronto woman who swallowed the narcotics and another 1.5 kilos of
cocaine was discovered hidden inside the frame of a suitcase carried
by another Toronto woman.

On Nov. 25, a British Columbia woman was charged after about 1 kilo
of cocaine worth about $250,000 was found concealed in cakes.

Charged with importing a controlled substance in connection with all
of the recent drug seizures were Jennifer Oelo, of Coquitlam, B.C.;
Patricia Dunn, of Toronto; Neville Falconer, of Jamaica; Mono
Kolowan, of Toronto; William Nobles, of Cambridge; Katherine Mason,
of St. Catharines and Barbara Maldonado-Soto, of Montreal.

RCMP also announced yesterday that three people have been charged,
including a British man, following a lengthy investigation.
Christopher Sutherland, of Great Britain, was charged as a
co-conspirator in connection with the importation of drugs brought
into Pearson by two other travellers early in October. Edwina Brazel,
of Mississauga, was charged Oct. 2 with importing 2.4 kilos of
cocaine hidden in bottles of sauce and Natasha Rose, of Toronto, was
charged Oct. 8 after 1 kilo of cocaine was found in a suitcase.

In some of the more notable drug arrests earlier last month, the RCMP
nabbed a 22-year-old Brampton woman travelling with an infant who was
caught allegedly trying to smuggle two kilos of cocaine hidden inside
the frame of a baby stroller.