Pubdate: Wed, 25 Apr 2001
Source: Delta Optimist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc
Contact:  http://www.delta-optimist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1265
Author: Maureen Gulyas

HEROIN SEIZURE RENEWS CALL FOR PORT POLICING MONEY

Delta Police Chief Cites Deltaport Bust As More Proof Of Need To Fund 
Liaison  Officer

A major heroin seizure at the Deltaport container terminal earlier this 
month is an example of why the Delta police department continues to lobby 
for enforcement funding.

"It has always been our position that we believe the Vancouver Port 
Authority needs to commit that funding for a port liaison officer," said 
Delta police chief Jim Cessford.

Canada Ports Police was dissolved, leaving the bulk of enforcement to local 
police agencies. The port provided interim funding, which runs out this 
September.

On April 12, Canada Customs officials targeted a vessel arriving at 
Deltaport from the city of Huangpu in China. It was shipping a load of 
canned pineapple, said Faith St. John of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

The Paris V docked at Deltaport, where customs officials used a portable 
x-ray machine to inspect the cans, which had ruptured because the pineapple 
had begun to ferment.

Inside, officers found 42 kilograms of heroin and 250 packets of 
phenylacetone, a precursor chemical used to make methamphetamine. 
Investigators are trying to determine whether that chemical caused the 
fruit to begin fermentation.

"It's one of the things investigators are looking at right now," St. John said.

Methamphetamine, manufactured in home-built labs, is taken in pill form.

As for the heroin seizure, officers said it would have yielded more than a 
quarter of a million doses on the street. One drug enforcement officer said 
each "flat" sells on the street for $35 to $40.

The Paris V, part of the China Shipping Container Line, sails into 
Deltaport regularly. CSCL was founded in 1997 and is under the 
administration of the Chinese government.

This is the first heroin seizure at Deltaport by customs officers. Canada 
Customs says it inspects about 20 per cent of the vessels docking at the 
container terminal at Roberts Bank.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens