cannabisnews.com: At the Northern Border, No Talk of Fences





At the Northern Border, No Talk of Fences
Posted by CN Staff on July 02, 2006 at 08:40:25 PT
By John Pomfret, Washington Post Staff Writer
Source: Washington Post 
Blaine, Wash. -- Royal Canadian Mounted Police agents watched from a clifftop as a helicopter swooped down in a Canadian field, picked up more than 300 pounds of marijuana from a waiting truck and skimmed across the border into the United States.Federal agents in Washington state's Okanogan County, in constant radio contact with the Mounties, were waiting when the helicopter dropped its illicit load in a wildlife area. The U.S. agents arrested two men who had scooped up the dope, and the Canadians were waiting when the chopper landed back in British Columbia, arresting the pilot and another man.
The closely coordinated investigation, announced by authorities last week, was about more than busting a drug-smuggling ring, however. U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officials said it highlighted the increasingly close and institutionalized cooperation between the two nations' police agencies. Such joint operations, called "parallel investigations" because of sensitivity about sovereignty issues, also reflect the fundamentally different strategies used to secure the United States' two very different borders since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.Along the border in Texas, local police departments have claimed to see Mexican army troops protecting drug smugglers, a claim the Mexicans deny. Corruption has been common among some Mexican police. The United States has constructed walls and fences and stationed National Guard troops along the border to keep out illegal immigrants.Along the Canadian border, there are no plans for fences, and efforts focus on smuggling and terrorism. U.S. and Canadian authorities are patrolling together on the Great Lakes and have plans to operate a joint radio network. In a real-life repeat of the 1990s TV show "Due South" that featured a well-mannered Mountie and a hard-bitten Chicago cop, American agents and their Canadian counterparts have begun to investigate cases on each other's soil.Americans and Canadians also share law enforcement intelligence. U.S. agents aided the Canadians in their investigation into an alleged terrorist plot stymied on June 3 with the arrest of 17 men and teenagers in Ontario, law enforcement officials said.Five years ago, only Canadians worked at the Mounted Police headquarters in Ottawa, said Joe Oliver, a Canadian police superintendent. Now, Americans representing four agencies are based there, he said, adding that cooperation is "pervasive."Just a few years ago, cross-border law enforcement cooperation was difficult and ad hoc. "You could get punished for improper disclosure to a foreign country," said Roy Hoffman, who runs the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Blaine. "You used to need a friend on the other side to work a case together with you. Now it's ingrained behavior."The Washington drug-smuggling investigation, known as Operation Frozen Timber, began two years ago when law enforcement agencies learned that smuggling rings were using helicopters and small aircraft to move high-quality marijuana known as B.C. Bud from Canada and cocaine, firearms and bulk cash from the United States, said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office in Seattle. In July 2005, Playboy magazine interviewed pilots who bragged of making $125,000 a week running marijuana to the United States.Winchell said U.S. and Canadian authorities identified suspects and infiltrated the organizations. They arranged wiretaps and pooled intelligence. Over time, agents arrested more than 40 people in the United States and six in Canada. Authorities also seized 8,000 pounds of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine, three aircraft and $1.5 million in U.S. currency. Three alleged smugglers were killed in two helicopter crashes in Canada."The ability of organizations to move contraband back and forth across the border is a national security issue, because these are people who figured out a mechanism to penetrate the U.S. and Canadian border," Winchell said. "Those small helicopters can move 250 pounds of marijuana at a time. But what does a suitcase carrying a dirty bomb weigh? Maybe 80."Culture, the nature of the threat and geography have brought U.S. and Canadian law enforcement together. While there are many cities that sprawl across the Mexican border, they are usually divided by walls. But in most places, the U.S.-Canadian border is delineated by nothing more than a ditch or a clear-cut through a forest.As of the end of April, only 950 Border Patrol agents were stationed along the 4,000-mile-long northern border while 10,200 patrolled the 1,920-mile-long boundary with Mexico. At scores of checkpoints across the northern border, when it's quitting time, an orange cone is the only thing stopping incursions -- although since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has invested billions to establish five air and marine stations, and to install sensors, cameras and other technology to firm up the northern frontier.Border Patrol senior agent Bob Riffle, who worked on the Mexican border for a decade before transferring to Washington state, said the two borders have different cultures and had high praise for his Canadian counterparts. "I trust those guys implicitly," he said. "In Mexico, how can you have serious cooperation on a day-to-day level with guys who might have just robbed a group of illegals? It's a different world down there."Law enforcement officials also say the nature of the threat demands that the two sides cooperate. As of the end of May, 829,109 illegal immigrants had been apprehended crossing from Mexico this year. Canada's numbers are a tiny fraction of that amount -- 4,066.But a significant number concern American law enforcement. The only terrorist caught entering the United States, millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam, came from Canada. Criminal gangs also traffic in Asian sex workers from Canada to the United States.Some law enforcement officials, such as John McKay, the U.S. attorney in Seattle who prosecuted Ressam, are not satisfied with the level of cooperation. "The good news is it's improved," he said. "The bad news is it's not nearly as good as it should be."When an FBI analysis raised the possibility in 2004 that the massive ferry system that plies Puget Sound had been scouted by potential terrorists, McKay remembers sitting in a meeting when someone asked, "Hey, has anyone called the Canadians about this?" "And everybody in the room stopped what they were doing, and blood ran cold," McKay said. "We're equally vulnerable. Why isn't there an RCMP constable sitting in the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Seattle?"Canadian officials said a Mountie participates in the task force by invitation only.McKay has lobbied to open up an experimental law enforcement database, called Linx, to Canadian law enforcement. "We have people who think if we shared sensitive law enforcement records with Canada, we would be giving up sovereignty, but we can't be secure unless we share information with Canada," he said.Some in Canada have been wary of the long arm of American justice. In 2002, a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, was changing planes in New York when U.S. authorities detained him and spirited him to Syria, where he said he was imprisoned and tortured for nearly a year. Arar's charges that Canadian authorities assisted the United States in his detention caused an uproar in Canada.On the American side, there are worries that Canada is not being vigilant enough. A recent State Department report called Canada's recently tightened immigration policy "liberal" and claimed Canada is a safe haven for militants.One unintended consequence of the increase in cross-border cases is a crush of suspects being handed off to local prosecutors and warehoused in local jails. More than 85 percent of the cases made by federal agents in Whatcom County, in the northwest corner of Washington state, for example, are declined by the U.S. attorney and end up as state cases. As a result, Whatcom's jail, built to house 148 inmates, now has 280. People convicted of drunken driving are given tickets and are not incarcerated because the jail is packed, and people arrested for misdemeanors who do not show up for court dates "know there are no consequences," Sheriff Bill Elfo said.Currently, 700 people in the county have been sentenced to jail but cannot serve their sentences because, he said, "there's no room at the inn."Note: U.S. and Canada Collaborate to Enforce Law.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: John Pomfret, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Sunday, July 2, 2006; A03Copyright: 2006 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ CannabisNews Justice Archives http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml
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Comment #12 posted by Wayne on July 03, 2006 at 20:29:20 PT
another Canadian snippet from NORML
I just saw this article on NORML's page. I didn't see it on here, so I thought I might enlighten you. It's funny... as much as Americans poke fun at Canadians, at least our northern neighbors have at least a few shreds of common sense left in them. They can not only acknowledge that marijuana exists and that people use it, but they can even have free debate about it without fear of defamation or prosecution. After all, they haven't declared war on it (yet) and it is not their mortal enemy like it is here.
Tories Keep Medical Pot
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Comment #11 posted by lombar on July 03, 2006 at 13:52:26 PT
kapt
Exaclty. While Harper is playing "I keep my campaign promises" game with a GST reduction, his MINORITY governemnt is, how shall we say, locked in passionate embrace, with the globalists, selling out what remains of the country. The Conservatives started the sell out with Mulroney, the liberals continued so now Canada has the most foreign investment, (65%) of any country, now the people were conned into putting the same people back. Deep integration will be a done deal before the average Canadian is even aware of it. 
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on July 03, 2006 at 06:11:34 PT:
Partially OT: why some Canucks leaders want it
The Peace and War News: http://users.sgci.com/~peacenews/2006June.htmlCanadians, do you know your government is doing this... behind your backs?
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on July 03, 2006 at 05:43:50 PT:
And at what point will it become obvious?
Look up the word "Finlandization". Maybe a better word would be "anschluss". But it winds up in the same nasty place. If Canadian LEOs become any more 'harmonized' with their US counterparts, they may as well take off those fancy Canuck uniforms, fill out US tax withholding forms and start being paid in greenbacks. And take down that flag; they really won't need it anymore...
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on July 02, 2006 at 16:31:43 PT
If they don't end the WoD, as it is, soon....
This is only going to get worse. Prohibition caused this.Fruit of the Prohibition tree...severed heads as "messages".http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/01/D8IJ0KI00.htmlI'd like them all, Prohibs and outlaws, to stop sending their all their so called "messages".
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Comment #7 posted by Patrick on July 02, 2006 at 14:15:52 PT
A different world
Border Patrol senior agent Bob Riffle, who worked on the Mexican border for a decade before transferring to Washington state, said the two borders have different cultures and had high praise for his Canadian counterparts. "I trust those guys implicitly," he said. "In Mexico, how can you have serious cooperation on a day-to-day level with guys who might have just robbed a group of illegals? It's a different world down there."I haven’t been to Mexico in 4 years. Briefly, I had to bribe my way back into the United States and out of the Tijuana jail while waiting in the three hour long border traffic for the “crime” of having surfboards that extended 17 inches beyond my truck’s tailgate.Honestly, I think I prefer the American police tactic of “get out of the car long hair” to the unfamiliar corruption and $10 bribe required to be left alone and continue home I experienced in the third world country on our southern border.
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Comment #6 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 13:34:18 PT
runderwo
By the way, that wasn't a defense of people who call themselves liberals, either.It's not political advocacy I'm doing. I'm an abstainer. I won't vote. I won't encourage you to vote. I will encourage people not to vote. This year, especially, and for the foreseeable future, I will tell people especially not ever to vote for any Republican, for any office, anywhere, again.
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Comment #5 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 13:29:31 PT
runderwo
I think you fell into the trap there, though. Let me see if I can explain with a different word.Suppose the word "freedom" were used as a slur against advocates of "slavery". So they would call the slavers, "freedom advocates" and it would be a lie. And then the slavers, not wanting to be identified as slavers and perceiving the accusation to be a slur (and since they aren't advocates of freedom anyhow) they would disagree and deny being freedom advocates.Pretty soon the word "freedom" means "slavery" in all common speech.That's what they've done to "liberal."But I know it's going to play out this way, for a long time to come, and it's not something we can just spit in the face of and be understood. But libertarian is not the word I would use to describe myself, as it was an invented word to apply to a philosophy that was pretend-liberal from the beginning in some ways. It is so largely focused on economic liberty without reflection upon the corporations and monopolies and private interests, much less the really core issues of land tenure.Libertarianism is not liberal, but many libertarians think it is, and some liberals may think they are libertarians.
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Comment #4 posted by runderwo on July 02, 2006 at 13:14:44 PT
whig
Actually, no. The term 'liberal' is most often associated with statism and P.C. politics, which are diametrically opposed to freedom. If someone wishes to identify as a classical liberal, i.e. one that wishes to maximize individual freedom and minimize government interference the economy, the most precise term we have is libertarian (with a little 'L' to avoid identifying with the LP).
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Comment #3 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 12:46:42 PT
My OT July 2 Ramblings continue
Rome was sacked.If it were possible for Rome to imagine itself invulnerable to being sacked, could it or should it enslave its entire population in pursuit of avoiding that outcome?That is the choice that is set before us, and this is the terrible thing that I think we have to realize.You cannot act in fear of Rome (or Washington) being sacked. It will happen the more certainly the more you panic and lash out and bring the level of violence up to the point that it will have the power to sack Rome anyhow. It is like a Chinese finger-trap.End the war. Wage peace.
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Comment #2 posted by whig on July 02, 2006 at 12:30:50 PT
Another thing
When Republicans attack "liberals" they are not attacking just the Democratic Party. They are attacking the very idea of liberalism -- Freedom.When they point and say, so-and-so is a liberal, they are accusing the person of being an advocate of freedom.It doesn't matter that the charge is untrue in some cases. Some people in the Democratic Party who are for a right-wing prohibitionist state but with a different set of people in charge (like the Clintons) are not actually liberals, but they are also accused of being liberals in order to attack not just them, but freedom. It is to turn freedom into a curse-word, to align the idea of freedom with the idea of prohibition. They are opposite.And my point isn't to defend people who are "falsely accused" because what they are denying when they deny it is to injure us further. For someone to say, "no, I am not a liberal" is to say, as well, they are opposed to liberalism, to freedom. They do as much harm, because they ratify the smear with a further smear.But I will say, freedom is not consistent with hatred.
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Comment #1 posted by user123 on July 02, 2006 at 11:19:28 PT:
Eye on the Prize
"The ability of organizations to move contraband back and forth across the border is a national security issue, because these are people who figured out a mechanism to penetrate the U.S. and Canadian border," Winchell said. "Those small helicopters can move 250 pounds of marijuana at a time. But what does a suitcase carrying a dirty bomb weigh? Maybe 80." The 80lb suitcase is what they're gonna miss, because they're going to end up going after what produces arrests, the interdiction of marijuana. They hope if they're sucessful enough, there won't be anything to smoke as your're dying from radiation sickness.
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