cannabisnews.com: B.C. Bud Crosses The Line 





B.C. Bud Crosses The Line 
Posted by CN Staff on May 20, 2002 at 10:30:35 PT
By Skip Card, The News Tribune 
Source: News Tribune 
Hiker Michael William Karras barely survived his January trek through the snow-covered North Cascades. By the time he was rescued near Ross Lake, Karras had weathered two winter storms in four days with little to protect him besides some thin rain gear.If park rangers had not found a pound of potent Canadian marijuana in his backpack, Karras could probably tell a good survival story. Instead, he should have some explaining to do at his September sentencing.
Karras is the latest caught carrying British Columbia marijuana across the U.S. border through rugged North Cascades National Park. But he is hardly the first, and everyone agrees he certainly won't be the last.Rangers say the national park and adjacent Ross Lake and Lake Chelan national recreation areas - 684,242 jointly managed acres of mountains, forests, lonely trails and long reservoirs - have become popular among smugglers seeking an out-of-the-way route to sneak drugs, money, guns and people across the U.S.-Canada border.Officials fear the problems could soon grow worse, reversing recent progress. While other border areas have gained inspectors and guards since the Sept. 11 attacks, this summer the vast North Cascades area will be patrolled by just five rangers - one fewer than last year."It's sort of like water following the path of least resistance," said Bill Paleck, superintendent of North Cascades National Park. "As enforcement capabilities beef up in one portion of the border, smugglers look for another path."Moreover, the growing presence of professional smugglers in the North Cascades - and their suspected links to Hell's Angels and other violent gangs - make some officials fear campers or backpackers may one day become caught in a violent cross fire."That hasn't happened, but that to me is the real reason why it's not acceptable," said ranger Hugh Dougher, the park's lead drug investigator."You have criminal groups out there interspersed with family groups and legitimate groups trying to enjoy recreation," Dougher said. "If they run into problems, the public may become the prey." Driven by high profits The chief southbound export through North Cascades is British Columbia marijuana, or "B.C. Bud," a potent plant packed with the mood-altering chemical THC. Drug officials say a pound often sells for $3,000 in Washington, and around Los Angeles it often swaps straight across for cocaine.B.C. Bud began appearing around 1990, and agents estimate $2 billion worth of marijuana now flows from Canada into the United States each year. Park rangers began to suspect the North Cascades had become a smuggling route about five years ago.Since then, drug-related investigations, busts and seizures have become common. Twenty-one people were arrested in North Cascades in 2000. In 1999, park rangers "were picking them off weekly," Dougher said.Four smugglers were busted last year - a drop rangers attribute to previous busts and greater awareness among smugglers of the park's anti-drug efforts. Still, Dougher estimates 90 percent of smugglers pass through the park undetected."The smart ones are out there, and we don't even know they're out there," Dougher said. "We catch the dumb ones. They are the easiest to catch."The 10- to 30-pound loads of marijuana typically seized in the park are relatively small compared with the much larger shipments intercepted by agents in cars or trucks at busy border crossings, officials say. The biggest drug bust in the park netted 44 pounds of cocaine."You can only carry about 50 pounds (of drugs), and even that's a struggle over a mountain pass or in the wilderness," said Doug Whalley, drug unit supervisor for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Washington.Yet, for smugglers hoping to slip undetected into the United States, the vast North Cascades complex - with 23 lonely miles of unfortified northern border - must seem as tempting as an empty side road alongside a jammed freeway."There are a lot easier routes than this," North Cascades ranger Galen Stark said, "but the easier ones are also gated and patrolled more."A common route begins in Hope, B.C. Rangers say many smugglers follow a primitive road across the border to Hozomeen Campground on Ross Lake, then boat 19 miles down the lake or backpack along forested trails to Highway 20.Rangers say that was the 70-mile route Karras followed on foot last January. After worried friends reported Karras overdue, a skier spotted him limping and nearly frostbitten several miles from the snowed-in highway."Basically he had sneakers, a really cheap rain suit, some Power Bars, a pack and the clothes on this back," Dougher said. When questioned about his four-day journey, Karras failed what rangers call "the red-face test," giving them reason to search his pack.Karras pleaded guilty May 9 to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. The public defender assigned to represent Karras did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment, but a Whatcom County prosecutor joked that Karras might earn some sympathy at his September sentencing considering his wilderness ordeal."A lot of these guys have pretty good stories," said deputy prosecutor Rosemary Kaholokula. "I mean, really, 70 miles for a pound? With that kind of get up and go, there's really something else you can do."Smuggler profile Dougher calls small-time marijuana smugglers "entrepreneurs." Many transport only a pound or two because it's all they can afford from Canadian suppliers, he said.Others passing through North Cascades are middlemen or couriers, paid about $100 for every pound they carry. Dougher said many return to Canada carrying cocaine or cash.Most smugglers are fit males in their 20s who travel alone or in groups of four or fewer, Dougher said. Most rarely carry weapons, he said, since violence is unprofitable and "the weight of a gun is $3,000 worth of pot."Many of those arrested also made stupid mistakes or were obviously up to no good.Will Shields, a manager at Ross Lake Resort, said he can usually spot the smugglers when they pass through the floating fishing camp near Ross Dam. Some appear to be drawn to the area by the tales of a no-brainer border crossing."It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to strap on a backpack and cross the border," Shields said. "They're usually idiots, the ones that they catch. They stand out like a neon sign."Dana Larsen, editor of the Vancouver-based magazine Cannabis Culture, agrees."The people they are catching are stupid or lazy or very unlucky," Larsen said. Professional smugglers, he said, are probably transporting marijuana "in every possible way you can think of, and in a lot of ways you can't."Rangers already have noted a variety of methods. Smugglers have been spotted ferrying drugs on foot, snowmobiles, bicycles, kayaks, canoes, powerboats and helicopters."The only transportation method that we haven't detected yet is horseback," Dougher said. "That doesn't mean it isn't happening. It means we haven't caught it."Dougher said he and other rangers are becoming better at spotting tell-tale signs that expose smugglers who "are trying to conceal themselves through recreational behavior." Yet, he admits the sheer size of the North Cascades makes enforcement a challenge.The park's three full-time rangers with law enforcement commissions are often thinly spread throughout the sprawling North Cascades, and any police backup during confrontations can be hours away, Dougher said.Dougher once had to arrest four smuggling suspects by himself."That's poor police technique in the city when your backup is five minutes away," he said. "When your backup is two hours away, that's inexcusable."Despite the challenges, Dougher said, rangers remain committed to fighting the smuggling - even though most say the battle will never be completely won."You're never going to stop it when there's this much profit involved," Dougher said."Our goal is to make it more difficult to come through the park than to go through other routes," he said. "I want the smugglers to know it's not a free ticket to come through the park."Note: Canadian smugglers are bringing pot through the remote North Cascades. Source: Tacoma News Tribune (WA)Author: Skip Card, The News Tribune Published: May 19, 2002Copyright: 2002 Tacoma News Inc.Contact: letters tribnet.comWebsite: http://www.tribnet.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis Culturehttp://www.cannabisculture.com/Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmU.S. Fears Drug Spillover from Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12870.shtmlCanadian Marijuana Reform Concern To U.S.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12829.shtmlZeroing in on Border Pot Smugglers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12645.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by freedom fighter on May 21, 2002 at 18:22:32 PT
It's the PROHIBITION, Stupid!
"That hasn't happened, but that to me is the real reason why it's not acceptable," said ranger Hugh Dougher, the park's lead drug investigator."You have criminal groups out there interspersed with family groups and legitimate groups trying to enjoy recreation," Dougher said. "If they run into problems,(PROHIBITION) the public may become the prey."ff
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Comment #6 posted by Lehder on May 21, 2002 at 11:24:09 PT
doo doo on the drug war
Professional
   smugglers, he said, are probably transporting marijuana "in every possible way you can
   think of, and in a lot of ways you can't."If I were a daring smuggler like, for example, Carlos Lehder-Rivas, I would transport cannabis southward across the border either in manned gliders launched along roadways at night with tow lines attached to fast, powerful cars and carrying hundreds of pounds in contrabando, or I would assemble fleets of hundreds of small radio-controlled planes each carrying a pound or so and directed by scattered personnel along the trade routes. Enterprising young women disinclined to pilot airplanes have probably been breeding cotes of carrier pigeons for years.But I would agree with the author that a great many people have already had these thoughts and many more more.
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Comment #5 posted by Nuevo Mexican on May 20, 2002 at 23:32:18 PT
It's a sick game for border patrol, side effect...
of prohibition. What do these people do every day... wake up and take stupid pills or what? Every hiker and outdoorsman is potential terr-ist material now. 1984 is a profound book and the corporate world uses it for a blueprint for facism. Great articles Mayan! Talk about summing it all up!
Were back in the sixties now, controversial times these will be! Start your memoirs everybody, Lets REALLY Roll!
(another one, just like the other one....)
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on May 20, 2002 at 18:05:45 PT
More On 9/11 Foreknowledge...
 All the desperate lies and spin don't change the fact that the Bush administration had foreknowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks:
http://onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Chin051902/chin051902.html
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on May 20, 2002 at 17:44:28 PT
Never Gonna' Stop It!
"You're never going to stop it when there's this much profit involved."NEVER!!!Cheney Moves to Block 9-11 Probe:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.21A.Cheney.Block.911.htmThe USA PATRIOT Act Was Planned Before 9/11:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.21B.jvb.usapa.911.htm
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on May 20, 2002 at 12:13:40 PT
Some confusion over capitalism
"You're never going to stop it when there's this much profit involved," Dougher said.Now according to the Republicans, this is why the oppressive Soviet government was thrown into the trash bin of history -- because capitalism is unstoppable.According to capitalist philosophy, the glorious profit motive is what keeps the engines of human freedom running.
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Comment #1 posted by Nuevo Mexican on May 20, 2002 at 11:44:35 PT
Thanks Paul Peterson, you nailed it!!!
First, this story highlights the drug war as the reason for people to take great risks with their live, to make a huge profit because something is illegal, not based on it's worth (it's free, grows anywhere) Off topic, I found this poll at Cannabis.com:
Paul posts the reasons bush is the #1 reason Cannabis is illegitamately attacked: http://my.marijuana.com/pollBooth.php?op=results&pollID=117
Thanks for your articulate and detailed statements concerning the profit motives of the bush family!The chorus from a song addressing brainwashed Americans and lovers of war
From the Cult, Beyond Good and Evil, 'True Believers'Oh, you true believers, you gotta move on, you gotta move on with your lives!
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