Watch your Back: Could you be duped into drug smuggling?

With all the attention paid to preventing weapons of mass destruction from slipping into the United States, you might think customs officers are prone to missing more traditional contraband — marijuana to be specific.

Don’t count on it. Bud is big business on Canada’s West Coast, and over the past 18 months more than 3,700 kilograms of marijuana have been seized in more than two dozen busts at the Pacific Highway crossing near Blaine, Wash.

Increasingly, truck drivers are being caught in the middle. Brian Frolek, a driver from Peachland, B.C., was arrested at the Oroville, Wash., crossing last year when U.S. Customs officers found eight hockey bags filled with marijuana stashed behind a load divider in his trailer. Frolek says he was showering and eating when the trailer was being loaded and denied any involvement in drug smuggling. He’s languishing in jail awaiting his second trial on drug-smuggling charges (jurors could not reach a decision at his first trial in December).

What can be done to safeguard carriers from being used as “drug mules” into the United States? Even when the driver is present when a load goes on, rarely does he know what’s in the box.

Carriers who invest in security in order to qualify for expedited-clearance programs like FAST (Free and Secure Trade) should reap the added benefit of stopping contraband. Indeed, many of the same principles used to prevent cargo theft apply to drugs:

1. Deal in absolutes. Make sure the condition and count of a shipment is consistent with what’s stated on the manifest.

2. Treat documents like money. Don’t leave them unattended or give them to people you don’t know, and look for fakes.

3. Buy decent trailer seals and manage their use. The average value of over-the-road freight is estimated at $30,000 to $50,000 per 20 feet. Most of it is protected with a seal costing less than a buck. Use trailer seals that are numbered to match the bill of lading. When a customer seals a live load, have the driver check the seal number and note it on the bill of lading.

4. Review shipment discrepancies frequently for trends, locations, vehicles, and drivers most vulnerable to loss.