Transcript
of News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
January 10, 2002
For further information, contact:
DEA Public Affairs: 202-307-7977
MORE
THAN 100 ARRESTED IN NATIONWIDE METHAMPHETAMINE INVESTIGATION
Case Overview:
Today,
the Drug Enforcement Administration, together with the U.S. Customs Service,
Internal Revenue Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, announced
the arrests of more than 100 individuals in twelve cities in connection
with a nationwide investigation targeting the illegal trafficking of pseudoephedrine.
Pseudoephedrine is an essential precursor chemical used to manufacture
the illegal drug, methamphetamine. The investigation Operation Mountain
Express III is expected to have a significant impact on the availability
of pseudoephedrine resulting in a drastic decrease in the supply of methamphetamine
in the United States.
An arrest of a pseudoephedrine trafficker in Chicago, Illinois,
one of 12 cities where arrests were made. |
In addition to todays
54 arrests, 67 individuals were arrested previously as part of this investigation.
Today federal agents also executed 49 search warrants, confiscated 96
automobiles, restrained bank accounts, businesses, and residences, and
seized $350,000 in U.S. currency in connection with this investigation.
As of noon today, Operation Mountain Express (Phases I, II, & III)
has resulted in the seizure of over 30 tons of pseudoephedrine, 181 pounds
of methamphetamine, over 300 arrests, 9 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories,
and over $16 million in U.S. Currency.
U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Robert Bonner, DEA Administrator
Asa Hutchinson, and IRS Deputy Commissioner Bob Wenzel announce
the success of Operation Mountain Express III
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Conference Transcript:
MR. HUTCHINSON: Good
afternoon. Im Asa Hutchinson, administrator of the Drug Enforcement
Administration. I am pleased to be joined by Robert Bonner, commissioner
of Customs; as well as Bob Wenzel, on my left, who is the deputy commissioner
of IRS, to make the announcement today.
I am pleased to announce
the successful completion of the third phase of Operation Mountain Express,
a 12-month investigation that targets the epicenter of methamphetamine
production in this country. As I came to the DEA, being a member of Congress
from Arkansas, I fully understood the difficulties of methamphetamine
and the impact of it. It has been a high priority. And so it is with some
degree of pleasure that we have dismantled two nationwide criminal networks
that were trafficking multi-ton amounts of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine
producers in the United States.
Today the DEA and
other law enforcement partners across the country have issued arrest warrants
for 89 major pseudoephedrine traffickers in 10 cities across the country,
from Detroit to Los Angeles, to Phoenix, to Chicago. During the course
of the investigation, we have also closed down nine large-scale methamphetamine
laboratories operating in California. Fifty-six of the targeted individuals
are in custody. We have issued and executed 49 search warrants across
the country today. The three key cell leaders are in custody. This is
the first national enforcement operation that targets bulk suppliers of
pseudoephedrine from Canada, and these traffickers smuggled in multi-ton
quantities of pseudoephedrine from Canada, and sold this drug either directly,
or through brokers to Mexican nationals operating meth labs in the United
States.
And
if you look over at the chart over at the right, you can see that Mountain
Express III starts in Canada, where the pseudoephedrine, many times in
semi-trailer truckloads, go across the border to Detroit, housed partly
in Chicago; it is transported through semi-trailer truckloads over into
California where it is used in the laboratories.
On my left, you will
see two comparisons. One, on the left, is a van load of pseudoephedrine,
which is a typical quantity that was targeted in the first phases of Mountain
Express, I and II. Since then they have moved to a little bit larger operation
you can see on my far left Mountain Express III, which reflects
semi-trailer truckloads of pseudoephedrine that comes across the border
into the United States.
The typical operation
method was that these traffickers would go to great length to hide their
activities by using a FedEx logo on the truck, or even using a trailer
that was stolen from the United States Mail, and using that logo on their
truck to appear legitimate. The majority of the traffickers are of Middle
Eastern descent, and we have determined that they send drug proceeds in
part back to the Middle East, and we are continuing to follow the money
trail.
During all of the
phases of Mountain Express, phases I, II and II, we have seized 30 tons
of pseudoephedrine from these two groups. This would make about 37,000
pounds of methamphetamine. To give you an idea of how significant that
amount is, consider that last year U.S. authorities reported only 6,000
pounds seized nationwide. To put this in another picture and we
are grateful for our Canadian counterparts and the cooperation they have
extended during this operation but in Canada, one of the reasons
that they went across the border, is that in Canada the pseudoephedrine
is not regulated, and so it is lawful to load up a semi-trailer truckload
in Canada of pseudoephedrine. It is illegal to bring it in the United
States when it is going in to illegal purposes. But in Canada, in the
year 2000, 55 metric tons of pseudoephedrine was brought into the commonwealth,
or Canada, the nation of Canada, during the whole year for all purposes.
Of those 55 metric tons, in phase III of Operation Mountain Express, we
seized 16 metric tons coming into the United States, and going into illegal
purposes. And so 25 percent of all the pseudoephedrine that was brought
into Canada was seized coming illegally into the United States. And we
are hopeful that this operation, and the illustration of this case, will
move forward legislation in Canada that will regulate pseudoephedrine
that it is such a problem in the United States.
These
quantities confirm the enormous demand for methamphetamine in the United
States. It is no doubt one of the work drug epidemics that we have seen
in this nation. It is certainly predominant in the rural areas of our
country, and it leaves behind a trail of crime, broken families, wasted
lives and death.
And I believe that
we are making progress on the methamphetamine problem in our nation. Let
me be clear I believe that our strategy is working. We are dismantling
the trafficking organizations, targeting thoseputting pressure on
those, increasing the risk to them. Secondly, we are eliminating the supply
source for pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient going into methamphetamine.
And that is illustrated by the efforts in this particular case. Thirdly,
we are continuing our education efforts across the country to educate
people to the dangers of methamphetamine. Two years ago we began Operation
Mountain Express. We have had unprecedented success putting out of business
68 rogue chemical companies. And now we are moving it into the bulk supply
that is coming out of our neighbors from the north, from Canada. We have
shut down the domestic source of pseudoephedrine to a large extent, and
now we are stopping the bulk supply coming in from across the border.
I am delighted that
we have had great cooperation from our enforcement partners, that are
represented on this stage and of course many of the state and local
partnerships that we have across the country. And now Id like to
welcome Rob Bonner, commissioner of Customs thank him for his great
leadership and work, and the cooperation that is illustrated in this case.
MR.
BONNER: Thank you, Asa. The U.S. Customs Service is proud to be a partner
with the DEA in Operation Mountain Express III. This is a great example
of law enforcement agencies working together, from the Canadian border
where the methamphetamine precursors were crossing into the United States,
all the way to the illegal methamphetamine labs in California, where most
of the methamphetamine in the United States is made and then distributed
across our country.
In this case, U.S.
Customs and the DEA were assisted by the Internal Revenue Service, by
the RCMP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and by the Canadian Customs
and Revenue Agency.
During the past nine
months, to put this in a time sequence, from about April of 2001 until
December of last year, about a month ago, the U.S. Customs Service has
seized 110 million pseudoephedrine tablets that were being smuggled into
the United States from Canada. Thats about, by the way, if you want
to translate that into pounds, thats about 60,000 pounds of pseudoephedrine
tablets, which would yield anywhere from 40 to perhaps as much as 50,000
pounds of methamphetamine. Thats about 40,- or 50,000 pounds of
methamphetamine that wasnt produced, because Customs seized the
pseudoephedrine at the border.
Now, the 110 million
tablets that were seized were seized in eight different seizures, as I
said the first one being in April of 2001, and the last one took place
on December 5th just about a month ago. The DEA provided intelligence,
by the way, for some of these seizures to the U.S. Customs Service, and
others were, as they say, cold hits no pun intended
here. The all of the diverted pseudoephedrine that Customs seized
arrived by commercial trucks entering the United States from Canada at
Michigan and Minnesota. In fact, all of these seizures took place if
I demonstrated here all of these seizures took place, all
of these eight seizures, and the 110 million tablets took place
at the Port of Detroit commercial trucks coming across from Canada
into the United States at Detroit, and at the Port of Port Huron, which
is also in Michigan. There was one of the seizures that actually took
place in Minnesota at Grant Portage, Minnesota. So, as I said, all of
these seizures took place came across the Canadian border into the
United States.
Customs officers
found pseudoephedrine hidden in these commercial trucks in shipments of
furniture, shipments that were described on the shipping manifest as glassware,
and did contain glassware but they concealed a huge amount of pseudoephedrine.
And there was even one shipment of bubble gum.
The first of the
eight seizures occurred on April 11th of 2001, and it was a particularly
brazen attempt to smuggle a huge amount of pseudoephedrine into the United
States. A truck driver arrived at the Port of Detroit with a shipping
manifest claiming that the truck was empty. And, by the way, thats
not unusual to have empties coming back across the border. But the manifest
said this truck was empty. And, despite that, the very alert Customs inspector
decided to order that truck over to whats called secondary inspection.
And inside the truck he found 43 million tablets of pseudoephedrine packed
in about many boxes. In fact, that photo over there is a photograph
of the inside of that supposedly empty tractor-trailer truck that contained
43 million pseudoephedrine tabs, or about roughly about 12 tons
of pseudoephedrine. The stash was more than large enough to convince the
Customs inspector that these drugs were going to be used for something
other than to treat colds. In fact, I think there was enough decongestant
in that that one truck itself to unplug about every nose in Michigan
for several years.
This case indicates
that Canada has become the major source of pseudoephedrine used for the
illegal manufacture of methamphetamine in the United States, meth that
is then sold on the streets and towns and rural areas across the United
States illegally. And meth, as Administrator Hutchinson knows, is a particularly
nasty and pernicious and addictive drug, and its one that Customs,
along with the DEA, want to do everything we can to keep to make
it more difficult to get.
I want to commend
Administrator Hutchinson and the DEA for leading this very effective investigation
that has brought down two large Middle Eastern drug trafficking organizations
the Jafar organization out of Detroit and the Yassoui (ph) Brothers
organization that is operated and based in and out of Chicago. These organizations
were the suppliers of huge amounts of pseudoephedrine to Mexican meth
traffickers in California who manufacture and then distribute most of
the meth that you see around the United States. By targeting and removing
these groups, the manufacture of meth will definitely be made more difficult.
We must, however, cut off the supply of these precursor chemicals, the
pseudoephedrine coming in from Canada.
I am very pleased,
by the way, that Customs contributed to this successful investigation
in several ways: through our Customs inspectors who seized large amounts
of these precursors at the border; through the work of our Customs special
agents, who were involved in several controlled deliveries following from
those seizures; and through our Customs air interdiction unit, that provided
aerial surveillance to assist agents on the ground. Thank you.
MR. WENZELL: Well,
thank you, Administrator Hutchinson and Commissioner Bonner. The Internal
Revenue Service stands proudly in partnership with the attorney general,
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Customs Service
and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to bring to justice those who are
engaged in narcotics trafficking in America.
The
IRS special agents bring unique financial investigative expertise to many
types of investigations, and their skills are particularly useful in this
kind of narcotic investigations. Narcotics trafficking generates huge
amounts of untaxed income, usually in the form of currency that must be
concealed using elaborate money laundering schemes and other sophisticated
means.
For the Internal
Revenue Service, the major goal in financial investigations is to identify
and document the movement of money during the course of a crime. The link
between where the money comes from, who gets it, when it is received,
and where it is stored or deposited can provide proof of criminal activity.
Often our findings take us directly to the door of the leaders of the
narcotic organizations. We are part of a very formidable team of law enforcement
agencies whose mission is to find these operations and stamp them out.
And we are committed to getting the job done. Thank you.
MR. HUTCHINSON: Following
any questions that you might have for Rob Bonner and Bob and myself, we
will have a presentation by the operations individuals from each of the
different agencies. But we would be happy to take any questions now.
Q Are you suspicious
that money (inaudible) back to the Middle East is in some
way funding terrorism projects, or do you have any idea?
MR. HUTCHINSON: There
is no indication of a terrorist connection to any of these operations.
It is standard procedure that whenever we have an investigation we follow
the money. And so we are continuing to follow that to see where that money
goes. But at this point there is not any indications that there is any
connection with terrorist activities.
Q You thank the Canadian
law enforcement agencies for their role in assisting you in this. But
do you not think that the Canadian government has been negligent in not
clamping down on the use of pseudoephedrine in Canada sooner?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Let
me just say from a very positive standpoint we want them to move expeditiously.
This is very important to what we are trying to accomplish in the United
States, and we urge the Canadian government to move as quickly as possible
to enact regulatory legislation. I know that our ambassador, Paul Salucci
has weve talked to him, Commissioner Sacadelli (ph) with the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police we visited with. So we urge .them to move
very quickly. And I think this case will illustrate the importance of
it and the necessity of it.
MR. BONNER: Could
I just add one thing to that? And that is I want to echo Administrator
Hutchinsons comments, and that is that we had incredibly good cooperation
from Canadian law enforcement, from the RCMP and from the Canadian Customs
Agency here. In fact, they were extremely helpful. I believe also that
its fair to say that the Canadian government is aware of this issue;
and that is that there are huge amounts of pseudoephedrine that are being
smuggled into the United States. And I understand that they are taking
steps, the legal steps that are necessary and the regulatory steps that
are necessary to address the issue.
Q Can you provide
us more details about the organization that was involved in Montreal in
the smuggling?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Well,
the organizations that we have targeted are based in Detroit and Chicago,
and the activities in Canada again involve legitimate sales of pseudoephedrine.
So the organizations we targeted were out of Detroit and Chicago.
Q There was an organization
in Montreal somebody to provide the drugs?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Yes,
they were businesses and manufacturers, distributors of pseudoephedrine
were the companies. But they were legal sales at that point. And so they
were not a part or a target of the investigation.
Q (Off mike) Canadians
among the warrants or arrests that you have made?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Id
have to check for sure, and our operations people could answer that. But
I am not aware of it at this point.
Q Were these Middle
Eastern men were they U.S. citizens, or were they Middle East or
were they here on visas, or how were they here?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Theymost
many of them, the majority of them were here in a legal status.
We are in the process of checking obviously with INS as to their status,
the background, and alerting them of their arrests.
Q Were any U.S. citizens?
MR. HUTCHINSON: TheI
believe that you will find in the 86 targeted individuals that some will
be United States citizens. The majority, the vast majority, werehad
a legal resident status here from Middle Eastern countries.
Q (Off mike)?
MR. HUTCHINSON: They
will be outlined for you shortly. We do have their countries. The majority
of them were from Jordan and Iraq.
Q When you say you
are still tracking the money that is going to the Middle East, and you
havent found any connection to terrorism yet, that search is still
continuing you havent ruled that out yet, is that right?
MR. HUTCHINSON: That
is correct. That is correct.
Q Mr. Administrator,
can you tell usNine labs were controlled by Mexican traffickers.
And I was wondering if there is any connection between those Mexicans
who were involved in these labs and any major drug cartel organization
in Mexico?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Well,
any time you are talking about this huge volume of methamphetamine, we
consider them significant criminal organizations. And these are Mexican
national organizations engaged in manufacturing methamphetamine through
the super labs in California.
Q Commissioner, I
am wondering about specifically what the sources were in Ottawa and Montreal
where they were buying the pseudoephedrine.
MR. BONNER: I think
the administrator answered that, that they were buying it from distributors
of various kinds of pharmaceuticals, including pseudoephedrine. So they
were buying bulk quantities from distributors in Canada who were essentially
either manufacturing it in tab form, because most of this almost
all of this was not powder pseudoephedrine; it was already encapsulated
in tabs, and it was being bought in bulk quantities and then smuggled
out of Canada into the United States. So these would be distributors in
Canada. And one of
Q Whats the
brand name?
MR. BONNER: Well,
let me ask the administrator to address the names.
MR. HUTCHINSON: Well,
there were two companies in Canada, Frega and Formulex
Q Can you spell it?
MR. HUTCHINSON: F-O-R-M-U-L-E-X.
Q And Frega?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Frega,
F-R-E-G-A and if I am wrong on that, my operations folks will correct
later. But again, these are two legitimate Canadian companies that are
not a target of the investigation. There is no indication of any illegal
activity, because it was, again, legal in Canada for the sale of the pseudoephedrine,
even in large quantities. There was a previous company, Expromedic (ph),
that was a bogus company, that was previously dismantled because they
were buying it and then bringing it in for that intent and purpose. But
that was not the major supplier in this case.
Q Commissioner, was
it packaged in a type of format that you buy in a pharmacy for instance?
Or was it in you know, was there a brand name on it when it came
across the border?
MR. HUTCHINSON: It
was all in tablet form, just like it would be sold in the stores.
Q No brand name?
MR. BONNER: I dont
believe there were any brand names. When Customs seized these tabs at
the border entry points, any brand name had been removed from it. And
they usually came initially in thousand-tab bottles, which are pretty
big bottles, and then they moved to 32,000 tab bottles, which are huge
bottles in shipping it. But there were if I am not mistaken,
I dont believe there were names on the bottles themselves
that would indicate the manufacturer.
Q So, to be perfectly
clear, in Canada its legal to buy this as a cough medication, but
in the States its not?
MR. BONNER: No, no.
First of all, its illegal to purchase pseudoephedrine in the United
States for purposes of using it in the illegal manufacturer of methamphetamine,
which is an illegal drug. We have the same issue here. I mean, there are
legitimate uses of pseudoephedrine, and I actually should let Administrator
Hutchinson speak to this but there are legitimate uses for pseudoephedrine.
The question here is diversion for illegal manufacture. And right now
in Canada they do not have, in my judgment, adequate laws and regulations
to protect against the illegal diversion of pseudoephedrine for the illegal
manufacture of pseudoephedrine.
Q Judge Bonner Judge
Bonner, you said that the Canadian law enforcement authorities had been
overwhelmingly cooperative, and that you have urged the Canadian law makers
to address this problem. What has been the lawmakers response?
MR. BONNER: Well,
first of all, this is something I know that Administrator Hutchinson has
been involved in along with me in terms of encouraging the Canadians to
take effective action to staunch this flow of illegal pseudoephedrine.
I know that there is I have been told I understand that the
Canadians the government at the political level is aware of this
problem, and I have been advised that they are taking steps to strengthen
their laws and regulations to make it more difficult much more difficult
for this kind of illegal diversion. And thats by, what, taking
a look at how much pseudo they are importing this is powder pseudo
and seeing if it matches up this is what we do in the U.S.
see if it matches up with the amount of pseudo you need to treat
the colds of the 30 million or so Canadians or whether youve
got a lot more than you need, which might indicate illegal diversion,
and then making sure that you have the people that are coming in to bulk
distributors of pseudoephedrine to these .ocompanies that Administrator
Hutchinson talked about making sure that they get adequate identification,
and they record that identification and the purpose for which the pseudoephedrine
is going to be used; which is one of the most effective things, by the
way, the DEA did in terms of eliminating the diversion of pseudoephedrine
in the United States.
Q Do you think these
companies are knowingly turning a blind eye to the fact that they are
obviously selling much more of this commodity than could possibly be consumed
in Canada, and they are making profits in essence off the back of the
drug industry here?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Well,
youd be asking me to judge intent and motive, and I dont believe
I am in a position to do that. It is my understanding that the Canadian
companies were cooperative. And to illustrate the cooperation of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, even though it is not illegal in that country,
they were very helpful in this investigation, knowing that it was a serious
problem in the United States and is something that they were assisting
in our investigation in. To further underscore the distinction between
the Canadian law and the United States law, as Commissioner Bonner, who
has a good advantage in this discussion, since he was previously administrator
of the DEA, it is correct you know, in the United States it is legal
to sell pseudoephedrine when it is for a legitimate purpose. But it is
illegal when we know that the intent is that it goes for an illegal purpose,
such as being used in a meth lab. In Canada there is just no regulation.
And so the intent is not the issue in Canada. And so that is what the
distinction is and what hamstrings us. And hopefully that will be remedied
very quickly.
Q What will the specific
charges be against the individuals that have been arrested?
MR. HUTCHINSON: There
will be a range of charges. Obviously conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine;
to import or to bring in and illegally distribute a List One chemical
or a listed chemical; there will be a charge in Congress to strengthen
the penalties for that so that it now is up to a 20-year penalty for the
illegal distribution of a listed chemical. Yes, maam?
Q In the wake of
the 9-11 attacks, did you add more resources to this investigation? Did
it take on a new urgency because its a border question, of people
that could smuggle things across the border, dangerous weapons, et cetera?
And, secondly, did you are you looking more closely now at the people
that you are focusing on, doing more checks, tracing their links back
more aggressively in the wake of the attacks?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Clearly
this case began before September 11 in the context of Mountain Express
I and phase II. What has changed since September 11, from our standpoint
at the DEA, is the critical necessity of chasing the flow of money in
not just this particular case but in all cases involving drugs because
we see drugs as being a means in some instances of financing violent activity.
Mr. Bonner might have a comment on the border there. But thats certainly
very much of an interest to us, is the flow of the money.
MR. BONNER: We are
certainly of course since September the 11th I mean, we are very
concerned about border security at the Customs Service. And, as you probably
know, we are at Level One alert at both the northern and the southern
border of the United States, which means that we are much more aggressively
questioning people and searching goods and cargo coming into the U.S.
But I cant say that the timing itself was affected here. And in
fact, as Administrator Hutchinson indicated, and as I have indicated,
actually some of these seizures at the border took place as early as April
of last year so before September the 11th.
Q How confident are
you that Detroit and (inaudible) Minnesota are the only ports
of entry? What about going through Washington is that Washington
State or other ports of entry?
MR. BONNER: We seized
an incredible amount, Customs did, of pseudo110 million tablets
60,000 pounds. We didnt seize it all. I mean, there was more
pseudoephedrine that crossed from the Canadian border in the United States
that we were not able to seize, because some of the pseudoephedrine the
DEA found at laboratories where the DEA went in with search warrants they
found pseudoephedrine that was coming in from Canada. So we didnt
get it all. I think we got a huge amount, when you think about it. But
obviously we .are talking about volumes that are coming across from Canada
that exceed the 110 million tablets that Customs is actually able to seize.
Q You are already
at a Level One alert on the northern and southern borders as you just
pointed out. Knowing that or possibly given the fact that pseudoephedrine
may have come from other border ports from Canada into the United States,
are you stepping up your presence even more so? Are you adding more people
to lets say a border in Montana or a point of entry in Washington
State?
MR. BONNER: We have
a stepped up presence, which gives me against the terrorist threat
right now which gives me greater confidence that Customs is going
to be able to seize a much higher percentage of the pseudoephedrine. And
I think we are doing it. And, yeah, we are concerned about more of the
northern the ports with Canada beyond just Michigan and Minnesota.
(Cross talk.)
Q What is the value
of the seizure? What is the value ot the seizure?
MR. HUTCHINSON: We
are resisting putting values on seizures. Well give you amounts.
But we dont quantify it in terms of the amount.
Q Administrator Hutchinson
(off mike) a chemical derivative of something else it
is produced in Canada or is it imported from Canada?
MR. HUTCHINSON: The
pseudoephedrine is manufactured a lot of it comes from China. It
is brought into Canada in powder form, and then it is put in capsule form,
remanufactured there in Canada and distributed. That is the means in this
case that happened.
Q And the amount
of (off mike) imported into Canada has grown dramatically
in the past year?
MR. HUTCHINSON: Correct,
correct.
Q Would you (inaudible}
the money thats going to you are following the money
trail right now do you know where can you give us a suggestion
at all about what country you might be talking about this money going
back to?
MR. HUTCHINSON: This
is an ongoing investigation. I think that it is preliminary, so I would
not want to point in a specific direction. But we know enough now that
there is a money trail going back to various countries in the Middle East,
and thats all we can comment on now at the present time. I want
to we are going to have our operations people, and I think everybody
here will acknowledge the greater work of the Customs, the IRS agents
out in the field, as well as the DEA agents. I am very proud of the great
work they did courageous and extraordinary leadership on this issue.
And they will be able to answer any more technical questions. If theres
broad, overreaching questions, well be happy to answer.
Q Do you have an
idea of what the percentage is that you have captured compared to what
comes across the border in a typical year?
MR. HUTCHINSON: The
percent that I gave was the percent captured of all the imports into Canada,
which is an incredible fact when its 25 percent. I dont have
the percent as to what we are capturing coming across the borders. Theres
been estimates. I want to just make one final point, if I might. This
coming in from Canada takes over to California, and of course this is
where it comes and is distributed through middle America. So even though
the lines are drawn from Canada, Chicago to California, it is middle America
that it is distributed to. So this is truly nationwide in scope and nationwide
hopefully in impact as well. Lets take one final question here and
then were done.
Q Okay, it is my
understanding that the dogs for Customs cannot sniff out pseudoephedrine.
So how is it that you are coming across this, and is it just purely random?
MR. BONNER: Well,
first of all, thats an interesting thing. I need to there are going
to be some technical people, our operations people from Customs and the
DEA that are going to follow us here. So I dont know if the assumption
of your question is accurate it may well be. But how were we able
to be so successful? Part of it was we got some very good leads from the
DEA for some of these seizures about half of them I think.
Q Intelligence driven?
MR. BONNER: Intelligence
driven. About half of them though were I mean cold hits they were
done by Customs inspectors who were doing their very alert good job in
the field in terms of inspecting container trucks coming from Canada.
And so it was a combination of both things. And I am going to leave to
John Varrone (ph) or somebody who will stay behind here the specific thing
in terms of the dog capabilities.
MR. HUTCHINSON: Thank
you very much. And well have our operations people, for those who
are interested in a more specific Power Point presentation in this case.
Source:
Federal News Service
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