TALE OF HOW U.S. CAUGHT SMUGGLERS

Plane Had Stopped To Refuel, Reeked Of Marijuana, Officials Allege

Harvey Allen Gabel was being watched. It was the night of Nov. 19,
and police say Gabel, 56, of Vancouver Island was flying a Cessna
421B from the Island to the U.S., possibly en route to Southern California.

On board was 39-year-old Brian Jeffrey Lindroos, a British Columbian
of no fixed address.

Allegedly loaded behind and around the two men were 451 kilograms of
marijuana and about 270 grams of cocaine.

At about 10:30 p.m., U.S. Customs agents contacted the Harney County
sheriff's office in Burns, Ore., to report the plane had been spotted
flying low on radar as it crossed the Canadian border. The signal
disappeared somewhere over the local airport. Speculation was the
plane had landed to refuel.

Sheriff Dave Glerup said police arrived at the Burns Municipal
airport to find Gabel and Lindroos filling up. They'd pumped about
570 litres into the Cessna by the time police arrived. Like many
small rural airports, fuel is self-serve after-hours at Burns Municipal.

"They, according to customs, had been flying low trying to evade
customs [radar] and that uses a lot of fuel," Glerup said.

The plane was literally stuffed with pot and the odour was intense, he said.

"It was very apparent that the marijuana was on the plane. You had to
crawl over it to get to the pilot's seat."

Gabel and Lindroos were arrested without incident at the scene. They
are now in custody in Eugene, Ore., where they face 40 years behind
bars if convicted on federal charges of importing cocaine and marijuana.

The marijuana in the plane was worth an estimated $6 million US. The
suspects are being held on $1-million bail each.

Glerup said Gabel told officers he was a handyman. Lindroos didn't
specify an occupation.

The plane the men were allegedly flying that night is registered to
Fleet Com Services Inc. of Carson City, Nev.

The company's declared premises is a forwarding address in Carson
City used by many small operations, several of which are current or
past variations of the Fleet Com name. There is no phone listing for
Fleet Com Services and the company's director, Ross Silvey, could not
be located.

Investigators have determined the plane had stopped and refuelled at
Burns at least three times in the past. A credit-card fuel receipt
search is under way.

The arrests of Gabel and Lindroos have prompted Oregon police
agencies to check fuel-purchase records at small airports across the
state in an effort to determine the extent of alleged airborne drug smuggling.

Meanwhile in B.C., nobody is answering calls at Gabel's many homes
and properties.

Gabel owns a home in Port Alberni valued at $74,500, another on
Chatsworth Way at Qualicum Beach ($390,000), a third on Winning Way
at Qualicum ($171,600) and a Parksville home on Jensen Avenue ($175,900).

The Parksville home is co-owned by Heather Gabel. Transport Canada
records indicate she has owned a Navion aircraft since 1984.

For 14 years, Harvey Gabel owned and operated Aquila Air, which flew
between Campbell River and Vancouver with additional flights to and
from Texada Island.

The small airline went bust in 1990 after one of its planes crashed
near the Nanaimo-Ladysmith airport, killing five people. Aquila's
licence was suspended for more than two weeks after three accidents
in 30 days in 1989.