Exerpted from the folowing article:
U.S. uses anti-terror law against B.C. pot suspects
Jeff Lee
Vancouver Sun
Friday, August 06, 2004
U.S. authorities are using the U.S. Patriot Act anti-terror law for the first time in Washington state to prosecute alleged marijuana smugglers, including several B.C. suspects who were caught in a major undercover operation involving nearly $3 million US in drug money.
A total of 24 people, including at least nine accused from the Lower Mainland, have been indicted in three related cases in which an undercover agent at times acted as a courier for people who wanted to smuggle drug proceeds back to B.C., according to indictments filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.
U.S. Customs, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the RCMP in Canada cooperated on a year-long undercover investigation to break up a drug-smuggling ring that was transporting hundreds of kilograms of B.C.-grown marijuana to the United States, and repatriating drug proceeds back to the Lower Mainland.
While such undercover operations aren't new, this case is unique because the U.S. district attorney's office resorted to using a provision in the U.S. Patriot Act in charging people with conspiracy to engage in bulk cash smuggling.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is attempting to have the law amended, said it threatens basic constitutional rights and warns the act could be perverted for uses not originally contemplated. It argues the law gives law-enforcement agencies the right to conduct surveillance and detain people, and not have to report it.
Todd Greenberg, one of two assistant U.S. attorneys leading the case, said this is the first time the act has been used in Washington state against drug smugglers.
He said there is no evidence to suggest those indicted were involved in terrorist activities, and the case involves criminal drug dealing and money-smuggling. But he said the Patriot Act isn't just for anti-terror activities.
"The Patriot Act is not really confined to terrorist activity. This is a general criminal statute that can be used to investigate and prosecute terrorism and it could be used to investigate more traditional types of organized crime."
But Doug Honig, a spokesman for the Washington branch of the ACLU, said the case demonstrates the validity of civil rights groups' concerns that the Patriot Act is too broadly defined.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
WHAT IT MEANS; WHAT B.C. DID ABOUT IT:
The U.S. Patriot Act gives American authorities sweeping powers to secretly search homes, spy on the telephone and Internet communications of suspected terrorists, detain suspects and seize money or property of those supporting terrorism.
Passed by the U.S. Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, the act:
- Allows courts to issue secret orders requiring people to provide "tangible things," including personal information, to the FBI.
- Allows search warrants to be issued that carry no requirement to immediately inform property owners that searches have been made.
- Makes it illegal for people to take more than $10,000 US out of the country without reporting it and classifies doing so as bulk-cash smuggling.
- Allows the U.S. attorney-general to indefinitely detain, without trial, aliens suspected of involvement in terrorism, with no requirement to show evidence or explain his reasoning.
Supporters of the act say it is a necessary tradeoff to potentially save thousands of lives.
Critics say the law is reactionary, has little to do with fighting terrorism and violates Americans' constitutional rights to free speech and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
The Patriot Act sparked an investigation by the B.C. privacy commissioner to determine whether U.S. firms hired to administer the B.C. Medical Services Plan could be compelled by the act to disclose personal information about British Columbians in MSP files without the knowledge of the people whose information is sought.
Attorney-General Geoff Plant instituted rules for disclosure in B.C. in an attempt to curb what he called the Patriot Act's "very, very small risk" to the privacy of Canadians.
U.S. uses anti-terror law against B.C. pot suspects
Jeff Lee
Vancouver Sun
Friday, August 06, 2004
U.S. authorities are using the U.S. Patriot Act anti-terror law for the first time in Washington state to prosecute alleged marijuana smugglers, including several B.C. suspects who were caught in a major undercover operation involving nearly $3 million US in drug money.
A total of 24 people, including at least nine accused from the Lower Mainland, have been indicted in three related cases in which an undercover agent at times acted as a courier for people who wanted to smuggle drug proceeds back to B.C., according to indictments filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.
U.S. Customs, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the RCMP in Canada cooperated on a year-long undercover investigation to break up a drug-smuggling ring that was transporting hundreds of kilograms of B.C.-grown marijuana to the United States, and repatriating drug proceeds back to the Lower Mainland.
While such undercover operations aren't new, this case is unique because the U.S. district attorney's office resorted to using a provision in the U.S. Patriot Act in charging people with conspiracy to engage in bulk cash smuggling.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is attempting to have the law amended, said it threatens basic constitutional rights and warns the act could be perverted for uses not originally contemplated. It argues the law gives law-enforcement agencies the right to conduct surveillance and detain people, and not have to report it.
Todd Greenberg, one of two assistant U.S. attorneys leading the case, said this is the first time the act has been used in Washington state against drug smugglers.
He said there is no evidence to suggest those indicted were involved in terrorist activities, and the case involves criminal drug dealing and money-smuggling. But he said the Patriot Act isn't just for anti-terror activities.
"The Patriot Act is not really confined to terrorist activity. This is a general criminal statute that can be used to investigate and prosecute terrorism and it could be used to investigate more traditional types of organized crime."
But Doug Honig, a spokesman for the Washington branch of the ACLU, said the case demonstrates the validity of civil rights groups' concerns that the Patriot Act is too broadly defined.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
WHAT IT MEANS; WHAT B.C. DID ABOUT IT:
The U.S. Patriot Act gives American authorities sweeping powers to secretly search homes, spy on the telephone and Internet communications of suspected terrorists, detain suspects and seize money or property of those supporting terrorism.
Passed by the U.S. Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, the act:
- Allows courts to issue secret orders requiring people to provide "tangible things," including personal information, to the FBI.
- Allows search warrants to be issued that carry no requirement to immediately inform property owners that searches have been made.
- Makes it illegal for people to take more than $10,000 US out of the country without reporting it and classifies doing so as bulk-cash smuggling.
- Allows the U.S. attorney-general to indefinitely detain, without trial, aliens suspected of involvement in terrorism, with no requirement to show evidence or explain his reasoning.
Supporters of the act say it is a necessary tradeoff to potentially save thousands of lives.
Critics say the law is reactionary, has little to do with fighting terrorism and violates Americans' constitutional rights to free speech and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
The Patriot Act sparked an investigation by the B.C. privacy commissioner to determine whether U.S. firms hired to administer the B.C. Medical Services Plan could be compelled by the act to disclose personal information about British Columbians in MSP files without the knowledge of the people whose information is sought.
Attorney-General Geoff Plant instituted rules for disclosure in B.C. in an attempt to curb what he called the Patriot Act's "very, very small risk" to the privacy of Canadians.
