Source:   Vancouver Sun
Contact:   Mon 29 Dec 1997
Section: A1 / Front
Author: Lori Culbert

HARBOUR DRUG SEIZURE ONE OF NATION'S BIGGEST

Canada Customs officers believe the contraband, found in a container on a
visiting ship, is cocaine.

Canada Customs officers have seized a ``very significant'' amount of
suspected cocaine from a ship at Vancouver terminal, calling it one of the
country's biggest drug seizures in recent history.

``This is really significant in terms of seizures made in the whole country
this year,'' said Paula Shore, a representative of Customs Border Services.

``We're pleased to have the drugs off the streets.''

The contraband was found Saturday night in a container on a foreign
commercial ship, which was docked at the Vancouver terminal on the downtown
waterfront.

Officials believe the seizure is cocaine, and lab tests were being
conducted Sunday to confirm that.

However, Shore refused to release further details about the drug bust or
any arrests. She said the investigation was continuing Sunday, and all
information would be made public at a press conference today.

RCMP, which will be laying any charges, were also tightlipped about the
seizure Sunday.

Shore noted a 1996 drug bust had been considered the biggest in recent
memory. Customs seized more than $40million worth of highgrade cocaine in
Vancouver in February 1996, after it was concealed in the bottoms of 2,400
aluminum pots and pans and transported to Canada in a sea container.

Four months later, RCMP arrested 10 people in Ontario on
cocainetrafficking and importing charges, after undercover officers
delivered the drugs to a warehouse near Toronto.

RCMP said last year that the 1996 seizure confirmed smugglers use Vancouver
as a major entry point into Canada and the United States. Importers favour
Vancouver because penalties are lighter than in Ontario and significantly
softer than in the U.S., police said.

The RCMP also believed the highly sophisticated drugsmuggling ring was
controlled by a cartel in Cali, Colombia.

Other drug seizures by customs in 1997:

  In September, customs officers recovered $660,000 worth of cocaine and
hashish from a ship originating in Colombia. The contraband was found in a
ventilation pipe aboard the container ship at Vancouver terminal.

  In July, customs officers in Vancouver intercepted a shipment of 327
kilograms of hashish with an estimated street value of $6.5 million, which
they believe was destined for the Toronto area. The contraband was found
vacuumsealed in packages of black peppercorns in a shipping container that
arrived in Canada by truck after sailing to Seattle from India.

  In April, more than four kilograms of cocaine, worth almost $1 million,
was found inside a shipment of bungee cords from Ecuador at Vancouver
International Airport.

  In March, Vancouver airport customs officers seized 1.3 kilograms of
heroin, with an estimated street value of $3 million, from two men arriving
on a direct flight from Hong Kong.