Border officers taking steps to prevent drug smuggling

This was a bigger-than-average seizure," Giuliano said.

Customs officers arrested Canadian border officer Altaf Merali, 37, of Surrey, B.C., May 3 on suspicion of attempting to smuggle 227 pounds of marijuana into Bellingham. Merali had allegedly arranged to deliver the drugs to Stanwood resident Jason Dean Smith, 20, but confessed to officers during a routine check at the Pacific Highway truck crossing in Blaine. The case is currently under investigation.

Giuliano said his department guards the land between the Sumas, Lynden and Blaine ports of entry and prevents anyone from sneaking across the border unchecked. These ports are land or water checkpoints that all travelers must pass through before crossing the border.

"The demand in the United States for drugs is high," Giuliano said. "So people continue to risk bringing them into this country."

Giuliano also shares surveillance and intelligence information with the ports of entry, where port officials inspect vehicles and passengers crossing the border.

Mike Milne, 52, is the press contact for the Seattle service port, which collaborates with the Sumas, Lynden and Blaine ports to stop potentially dangerous people and illegal goods from crossing into the United States.

"Our number one job is to keep terrorists out of this country," Milne said. "We also work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to keep drugs, illegal aliens and counterfeit goods out."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

Milne described a three-pronged system he said has helped U.S. Customs and Border Protection slow illegal trafficking of goods across the border. The prongs are more staff, more advanced technology, and more efficient information and intelligence systems.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepts approximately 25 to 40 shipments of marijuana per year at the border between Washington and British Columbia, though the inside involvement of a border officer is rare, Giuliano said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection works closely with supervisory import specialists such as Shelly Wise, 45, who works at the Pacific Highway truck crossing. Import specialists work to protect U.S. companies and consumers from counterfeit goods that do not sell at market value or meet federal regulations.

Commonly intercepted goods include DVDs, video games and textiles such as clothes and purses, Wise said. Fake Oakley sunglasses and Rolex watches, subsequently nicknamed "Foakelys" and "Folexes," also are popular counterfeits.

"We try to protect (intellectual property rights) and make sure that commercial importations are safe, legal and meet regulations," Wise said.

Intellectual property rights include copyrights, trademarks and trade names, Wise said. She works with attorneys from corporations that have had goods counterfeited to protect the quality and reputation of U.S.-regulated products.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized nearly $140 billion in counterfeit goods in 2004, an 11.6 percent increase from 2003, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection annual report.

"There is often a defining feature we look for to see if a good is counterfeit," Wise said, citing a recent shipment of fake Cabbage Patch dolls that did not have belly buttons.

The import specialists separate into three teams: technology, chemicals, and textiles and agriculture, Wise said.

The teams rely on an extensive computer database to target suspected counterfeiters, and they often receive anonymous tips.

Marijuana seizure statistics
(Blaine area: Blaine, Sumas, Lynden and Point Roberts)

Year: 2000/ Amount seized (pounds): 4,984

Year: 2001/ Amount seized (pounds): 5,227

Year: 2002/ Amount seized (pounds): 9,319

Year: 2003/ Amount seized (pounds): 11,590

Year: 2004/ Amount seized (pounds): 6,183

Source: Western Front Online