DRUG HAUL HITS $5.6 MILLION

Canadian Border Officials Nab Three in 56-Kilogram Cocaine
Seizure

Agents with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have made their
third multimillion-dollar cocaine seizure of the year at the
Ambassador Bridge, bringing the total amount seized to more than $20
million.

The 56 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated $5.6 million, was
found Sunday night in two suitcases hidden inside a tractor-trailer
carrying a shipment of oranges.

Three Cambridge men are in custody.

Earlier this month, Waterloo Regional Police Service intelligence and
drug units received information about the possible importation of
cocaine and relayed the information to the CBSA.

On Sunday around 11:30 p.m. the tractor-trailer entered Canada at the
Ambassador Bridge and the vehicle was referred to secondary inspection.

Soft-Sided Suitcase

The cocaine was discovered packaged in 49 blocks inside two black
soft-sided suitcases.

"The officer had to crawl well back into the load on the truck," said
CBSA spokesman Danny Yen.

The suitcases were found on the floor of the trailer between pallets
of oranges.

In July, CBSA inspectors discovered 82 kilograms of cocaine worth an
estimated $10.3 million inside a shipment of mixed produce from
California, and last month 51 kilograms of cocaine worth $6.4 million
was found in a shipment of lettuce and onions.

The July seizure was the largest in Windsor-St.Clair customs zone
history and shattered the record for the previous high in Windsor of
12 kilograms in March 2003.

Both of the large seizures from earlier this year resulted from scans
with a mobile x-ray type device known as the Vehicle and Cargo
Inspection System (VACIS).

"We're very happy with the results of our efforts," said Yen, who said
this year could set a record for local cocaine seizures.

While the Waterloo officers could have waited until the shipment was
in their region, Yen said there are powers that CBSA officers have in
inspecting vehicles entering the country which would require a search
warrant once they are in the country.

"At the border we have somewhat of a different requirement," said
Yen.

"We act on reliable information but everyone and everything that
enters Canada needs to be examined."

Yen said the CBSA works in co-operation with law enforcement agencies
throughout the country and the U.S.

"More and more we rely on intelligence information and sharing
information with other agencies," said Yen.

The three men have been taken to Kitchener where their legal
proceedings will take place.

Charged with importing a controlled substance and possession of a
controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking are Harvinder
Singh Khaira, 28, Sukhjinder Singh Gill, 28, and Jagtar Singh Brar,
31, all of Cambridge.

Since 2000, more than 420 kilograms of cocaine have been seized in the
region in more than 100 busts.

Anyone with information on this seizure or other suspicious
cross-border activity is asked to call the CBSA Border Watch toll-free
line at 1-888-502-9060.

[sidebar]

TOLERANCES

The tolerance factor (how much it takes to get "high") of cocaine
makes the likelihood of compulsive and addictive use very likely
within the first few uses, especially when in the form of crack.

Source - http://www.cocaineabuse.net/cocaine_addiction.html