Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jan 2006
Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Parksville Qualicum Beach News
Contact:  http://www.pqbnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361
Author: Neil Horner
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

$1 MILLION BAIL SET FOR ACCUSED POT SMUGGLERS	

An Oceanside resident arrested in Oregon after allegedly smuggling an 
estimated $2 million worth of marijuana in an airplane is sitting in 
federal prison in Eugene, Oregon on $1 million bail.

The Nov. 19 incident not only saw 56-year-old Qualicum Beach home 
owner Harvey Allen Gable and 36-year-old Brian Jeffrey Lindroos, of 
no fixed address facing as much as 40 years behind bars, but has also 
led U.S. authorities to pay more attention to activities at small, 
rural airports.

According to a report in the East Oregonian, federal authorities have 
begun to look at isolated airports as possible entry ways for illegal 
drugs coming into the country.

Airport authorities don't have the authority to inspect a plane or 
its cargo and there is no Transportation Security Administration or 
law enforcement agency on site to conduct security checks, unlike at 
commercial airports.

Authorities believe methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine are smuggled 
into Oregon from Mexico, while the Canadian border is subject to 
smuggling of marijuana.

Many of the small, rural airports, such as the Burns Municipal 
Airport where Gabel and Lindroos were arrested, have self-service 
cardlock gas pumps and landing strip lights that can be turned on by 
double clicking a plane's microphone while on approach. This 
situation is ideal for those who wish to refuel at night without 
attracting any attention.

Because of the Gabel matter, American authorities have begun sifting 
through self-service fuel records at the smaller, isolated airports 
in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the extent of aerial drug 
smuggling in the region.

Meanwhile, Qualicum Beach airport manager Sandra Keddy says the local 
facility also has a cardlock fuelling system and airport lights which 
can be turned on by pilots as they land. She adds that security at 
the airport consists of perimeter fencing and regular checks by 
Citizens On Patrol members after hours.

"If they find anything untowards they would call the RCMP," she says. 
"Of course, one would hope all our on-site leaseholders would also 
contact the authorities, and we have staff out there on a regular 
basis through working hours."

Keddy says she has never been aware of a need to check planes for 
drugs and she questions under whose authority airport staff would be 
able to do so.

For his part, Oceanside RCMP Staff Sergeant Bill Van Otterloo says 
there are no systems in place to prevent drug smuggling out of the 
local airport.

"I think the only time we would become involved in any type of 
searching of aircraft that come into the airspace would be if we had 
prior knowledge of criminal activities," he says. "We have no plans 
to search planes as they leave here. That is something that would 
have to be done in cooperation with a whole series of other partners 
in the aviation field."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom