Posted on 04/02/2008 9:29:35 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Border Patrol agents arrested a man this week who was signed up for the Nexus program, an electronic pass program in which members submit to background checks in return for a speedier crossing at the border.
Despite that extra layer of security, the 41-year-old Lacey man was found with 4.4 pounds of what authorities said was high-grade marijuana in the cargo area of his 1999 Jeep Cherokee.
Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the man tried to cross into the United States at 8:47 p.m. Sunday, pulling into the Nexus lane.
Spokesman Mike Milne said that special lane closes at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Agents selected the man for an intense search, though Milne declined to say whether the man was caught up in a random screening or if something about the vehicle raised suspicions.
But during the ensuing inspection, a box was found in the vehicle. When officers opened it, they found what they said were four sealed packages of marijuana, packed with coffee grounds.
"People think that by packing (marijuana) in coffee grounds, it will throw the canine detector off," Milne said -- though no drug detection dogs were used in the search, he said.
After finding the drugs, the officers arrested the driver. The amount of marijuana was not enough for a federal indictment, so the man was handed over to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, which will pursue the case.
The Nexus program began in June 2002 and was meant to allow people who cross the border frequently a way of avoiding the long lines at the U.S.-Canadian border.
Participants in the program undergo a background screening, including a personal interview, and are then issued a card with an embedded radio transponder.
The drivers can wave the card at a receiver, which allows border agents to view the person's background information and photo, Milne said.
There are about 50,000 people in the program, and though they are generally considered to be low-risk travelers, this was not the first Nexus participant to be arrested. "It's not a perfect program, and you're not exempt from inspection," Milne said.
The most devious criminals have no arrest record
Officials became suspicious when the suspect pulled up to the border security booth window, began giggling uncontrollably and eating twinkies.
It probably didn’t help his case to refer to himself, the border patrol agents, and various traffic cones as “Dude!”
papers? we don’t need no stinkin papers.
He brought in 4.4 pounds of weed. We defeintely need papers!
(preferebly zig zags)
Yes you could use some rollin papers.
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I thought the post was about another swift transportation driver. But then he may be at that!
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