Vancouver Sun

March 21, 1998

By Petti Fong

B.C. POT BOOM FORCES U.S. CUSTOMS TO CRACK DOWN AT BORDER CROSSINGS

Marijuana smuggling increase means more checks, longer delays on way to the States.

B.C.’s multi-million-dollar marijuana industry is forcing U.S. Customs to crack down at border crossings, leading to a rise in complaints from America-bound Lower Mainland residents.

Even users of the PACE lanes, normally an expressway for frequent cross-border travellers, are being made to stop as U.S. Customs agents tighten their nets in an effort to stop the flow of U.S.-bound marijuana.

And a senior U.S. Customs official says his agents are forced to be suspicious of everyone - pot smugglers busted recently have included people with young children and even a couple in their 70s.

"Are we seeing an increase in narcotics? Yes," said Gene Kerven, the area director for U.S. Customs from Blaine.

"Are we looking more than we used to? Yes we are. Are we doing more enforcement? Yes."

Reform MP Val Meredith (South Surrey-White Rock) and Washington state Congressman Jack Metcalfe have been meeting to discuss increased complaints about aggressive border questioning.

Meredith’s constituency assistant Donna Lucas said the MP’s office has been seeing more than the usual number of complaints lately from B.C. residents about their treatment at the American border.

"For a couple of years, it seemed to slack off, but recently, people have been saying they’ve noticed the customs officers have been more protective and maybe a bit overzealous."

Lucas, who was in Blaine, this week applying for a PACE sticker for Meredith, said about one in three PACE drivers were getting stopped and questioned.

The high demand for B.C.-grown marijuana and the lure of quick profits from selling the product south of the border is drawing a wide range of smugglers, Kerven said.

On that same day, Kerven said a man and woman with two young children in the car were stopped at the border and eight kilograms of marijuana were found in their car.

At the Peace Arch crossing Friday afternoon, U.S.-bound Argun Tekant said he’s getting questioned more than he used to a year ago.

"I first noticed it last September. I go down frequently and I rarely got stopped until last fall, but they checked my trunk and everything," said the computer programmer.

Meredith said many B.C. residents living so close to the Washington state forget sometimes they’re entering a different country, with its own laws for entry.

"There’s a zero tolerance at the border and customs is being careful as they have the right to be," Meredith said.

"Canada is being used as a gateway. There’s high-quality marijuana being grown here and it has, unfortunately, become one of our more popular exports."

In December, Metcalfe asked the U.S. Attorney-General Janet Reno to investigate allegations that American inspectors are harassing people at the Washington-B.C. border.

American customs officers began noticing about a year ago the increased number of people caught smuggling marijuana, Kerven said.

"The demand for B.C. marijuana is just outrageous. With the drop in the Canadian dollar, you can trade that for U.S. funds and make a large profit. What you buy for $3,500 a pound, you can sell for $6,000 once you go south."

Earlier this week U.S. Ambassador Gordon Giffin accused the media of blowing out proportion stories of harassment.

In the past month, newspapers have reported incidents in which Canadian travellers have been bullied, threatened and banned from the U.S. by aggressive immigration and customs officers.