AIRPORT SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS UNLAWFUL, COURT RULES

Drugs can't be used against man held by Canada Customs

The 83 grams of cocaine seized from an alleged drug courier at Pearson
International Airport were obtained unlawfully, a court has ruled.

That means the drugs cannot be used in court on a charge against Dominic
Samuel of attempting to smuggle illegal narcotics into Canada. Samuel
arrived at the airport from Jamaica in the early hours of Aug. 26, 1996.

According to a 13-page document released by a Brampton court yesterday,
Canada Customs officer Elizabeth Harrison was told Samuel had been out of
the country for one week and had nothing to declare.

Upon further questioning, he said his mother paid for his ticket, then said
someone named Rankin paid when asked for his mother's phone number.

Harrison said Samuel did not know how much the ticket cost. He had no money
or credit cards, he had no full-time employment and his tongue was white
and pasty with thick film, a symptom exhibited by someone who had swallowed
drugs.

Samuel was strip-searched and detained until stool samples could be
obtained, the document stated.

When it was learned there were cocaine pellets in his stools he was
arrested by the customs officer, taken to Etobicoke General Hospital for a
precautionary examination and turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police.

He was then charged with importing cocaine into Canada.

Samuel, represented by counsel Colin Browne, claimed that his right to be
secure from unreasonable search and seizure had been violated.

Mr. Justice Terrance O'Connor of the Ontario Court, general division, ruled
that customs officers can only search a passenger, not detain them, under
section 98 of the Canada Customs Act, which Harrison was acting on.

"Section 98 does not authorize the detaining of the traveller until nature
takes its course..." the judge said, citing a precedent.

He added that compelling urine samples and bowel movements was intrusive.

"Ms Harrison did not formally place Mr. Samuel under arrest. She detained
him pursuant to the powers she thought she possessed under section 98 of
the Customs Act," O'Connor said in his judgment.

"To effect a lawful arrest without a warrant, the officer would have to
have reasonable and probable grounds to believe Mr. Samuel had committed an
indictable offence," O'Connor wrote.

He said except for the appearance of his tongue, there was no evidence of
an illegal activity. No drugs were detected during the body search.

O'Connor determined that there were not reasonable and probable grounds to
believe an indictable offence had been committed.

He said the customs and RCMP officers had exceeded their authority when
they detained Samuel until he produced a bowel movement.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski