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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

U.S., Canada Acknowledge Drug Smuggling Attorneys General Meet, Plan Second Discussion

Associated Press

The attorneys general of British Columbia and Washington state say they will soon meet with top police officials of both jurisdictions to dis cuss the escalating problem of cross-border drug smuggling.

Christine Gregoire, Washington’s attorney general, and her B.C. counterpart, Ujjal Dosanjh, will set up the meeting to take place in Washington, they announced Sunday during a meeting of 10 attorneys general and justice ministers from Western Canada and Western U.S. states.

“It is a very serious problem for us,” Dosanjh said during a break in the two-day meeting, which was concluding Monday.

“There are over 300 overdose deaths a year in British Columbia and I understand the problems are increasing in Washington state as well,” said Dosanjh, adding that a “high-ranking meeting” is necessary to tackle the drug problem.

A large amount of marijauna from British Columbia enters Washington because of the high number of growing operations near Vancouver and the U.S. border, Dosanjh said.

“Those grow operations are used to ship marijuana into the states, I’m told, and then that cash comes back in the form of either heroin or cocaine from South America into Canada.

“But Christine (Gregoire) tells me that the traffic of heroin and cocaine is going from Vancouver to Washington and that’s news to me, and that’s the reason we need to sit down and start working on this issue at a fairly high level,” he said.

Telemarketing fraud, illegal gambling and lottery sales, and Internet crime, including child pornography and hate crimes, were also major concerns raised at the meeting.

“Those who would commit telemarketing fraud and other types of crime don’t know the border,” said Gregoire, who noted that recently, with B.C.-Washington cooperation, police were able to stop a major telemarketing racket in British Columbia that bilked Washingtonians of several million dollars.

“I’m ashamed to say that British Columbia … is being utilized by perpetrators of fraud of vulnerable, elderly citizens of the United States of America, of our neighbors,” Dosanjh said.

The ministers held a closed session Sunday with no staff or outsiders present in order to have an open, frank discussion, Dosanjh said.

Ministers from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon, Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota, Nevada and Alaska also attended the meeting.

Nevada’s attorney general provided the ministers with a pamphlet that her department recently produced for businesses to fight high-tech crime.

Reviewing security measures, employee background checks and training, and adopting procedures for Internet use are among the top recommendations.

Gregoire said that especially for Internet and high-tech crimes, public education and prevention programs are essential.