Thread: B.C. court rules against CBSA’s vehicle inspection procedu

Truck News, 7/19/2007


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B.C. court rules against CBSA’s vehicle inspection procedures

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A B.C. provincial court ruling has called into question the vehicle inspection rights of Canadian border guards.

Charges against Ajitpal Singh Sekhon were dismissed after a provincial court judge ruled his rights were violated when inspection officers drilled holes into his pick-up truck to look for drugs. Customs officers said they were initially suspicious because drug-sniffing dogs indicated the vehicle may have contained drugs. Their suspicions were confirmed and 50 kg of cocaine was found in Sekhon’s truck.

However, Judge Ellen Gordon ruled that Customs inspectors were not entitled to drill into Sekhon’s truck.

"Drilling a hole into a pickup truck would decrease its value significantly," Gordon wrote in her ruling.
"The damage done to the vehicle ... is directly proportional to the analysis of the reasonableness of the manner in which the search was carried out."

Canada Border Services Agency spokesman Chris Williams, said the agency is appealing the decision and will continue to carry out vehicle inspections in the meantime.

"We're going to continue our vigilance with our enforcement efforts based on the processes and the procedures that we have in place," he told the Canadian Press.

Sekhon’s lawyer referred to CBSA’s inspections as “nothing short of vigilantism.â€

Looks like Canada is neutering their border guards now too.

"Drilling a hole into a pickup truck would decrease its value significantly," Gordon wrote in her ruling.
"The damage done to the vehicle ... is directly proportional to the analysis of the reasonableness of the manner in which the search was carried out."

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Originally Posted by wolfbaby

Looks like Canada is neutering their border guards now too.

Call Johnny Sutton...he'll obfuscate the facts, give Ajitpal Singh Sekhon a humanitarian visa and instruct the judge in how to suppress the evidence to the jury to establish the credibility of the drug runner. That way, Sekhon will be able to sue Canada for at least 5 million dollars just like Davila did after our border agents were convicted.

What's the difference, didn't the truck become state property the minute the 50 kg of cocaine was found? I know the confiscate drug runners vehicles here in the United States - do they operate differently in Canada?

When US Customs pulls your car/truck apart in the US and find nothing you have to put it back together at your expense.They need no probable cause or reasonable suspicion.

Canada has more controls to protect travelers from fishing expeditions that destroy innocent travelers property.

jimpasz wrote:

Canada has more controls to protect travelers from fishing expeditions that destroy innocent travelers property.

Yeah, but is it really a "fishing expedition" when a trained drug dog alerts its handler to the presence of drugs?