Ok, I just went to the Toronto Star website to search for the article and happened to find it. It's a bit over a month old though (Dec 23, 99). I'll post it here for fear that the link may get removed from their site someday:
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Customs' first-class snoops take a sneak peek at the mail
Somewhere in Mississauga, `Inspector Green' and crew watch for drugs and dirt
By Bob Mitchell
Peel/Halton Bureau Chief
Getting that rum-soaked Christmas pudding from your aunt in Jamaica might have been a big surprise for you.
But you weren't the first person to see it. Days before the parcel was delivered to your door, Canada Customs knew it was coming to you.
You see, your aunt just happens to live in a country that Canadian authorities keep tabs on - not just as to travellers, but also mail.
Same thing with that videotape from your cousin's wedding in Japan. If you noticed the box had been opened before you received it, chances are customs officers thought the wedding was just a ruse for a reel of pornography.
It's common knowledge that Canada Customs officers at Pearson International Airport routinely target aircraft and passengers arriving from countries considered to be drug sources, such as parts of the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa and the Far East.
But few realize that international mail entering Canada from these countries also is targeted for inspection, for everything from drugs and pornography to unpaid duty and tax.
This year, 2 million to 3 million pieces of mail that passed through Toronto were sniffed, felt and even opened - and most recipients probably have no idea their parcels were examined.
``We know these (countries) are high risk,'' says Bob Burfield, manager of the international mail centre. ``Our intelligence information tells us that these are good countries for us to spend a little time looking at the mail that comes in from them.''
The sleuthing begins at the international mail centre, a nondescript building in a Mississauga industrial area. Canada Post and Canada Customs share the vast space, the exact location of which is kept secret.
All international parcels entering Toronto pass through here, as well as envelopes from high-risk countries. Canada Post presents them to customs inspectors. When an envelope arouses suspicion, inspectors weigh it to see if it meets requirements for opening without consent.
An envelope of more than 30 grams can be opened on the spot. Any less, and the person to whom it's addressed must be notified and asked for permission to open it.
Even without that permission, customs inspectors can, and often do, put the envelope through the X-ray scanner.
``Thousands of parcels and mail are checked every day,'' says Canada Customs spokes person Duncan Smith. ``The mail goes through a screening process, the same as passengers do at the airport, except you can't ask the boxes any questions.''
Burfield says about 20 per cent of the 15 million parcels and envelopes that pass through the Mississauga plant each year are closely examined. This year, more than 150 parcels and envelopes containing more than $911,000 worth of narcotics have been seized. The drugs were smuggled inside cards, toys, clothing, hollowed-out videotapes and books.
Some 1,500 pieces of mail containing pornographic videotapes, pictures and magazines have been intercepted.
Each month, customs inspectors working in the plant are given a list of about a dozen countries of origin to be watched. Among those routinely targeted are Jamaica, Bolivia, Korea, Peru, Brazil and Colombia and various East African countries.
``We highlight a specific country and do a concentrated effort on mail coming from these countries for a certain period of time,'' Burfield says. ``We can't watch them all. We rotate from South American countries to European and sometimes the United States for two or three weeks at a time, then switch to other countries.''
Recently, targeted surveillance led to the arrest of three Mississauga men in connection with drug imports. The six-month probe, which also involved the RCMP and Immigration Canada, led investigators to 850 grams of cocaine worth more than $125,000.
Investigators say the cocaine was sent in nondescript envelopes by post from Brazil and Colombia, to addresses in Mississauga, Toronto, Brampton, Milton and Burlington.
On this day in the plant, a large cardboard box that was said to contain spices drew special attention. Something just didn't seem right, and when the customs inspector ran it through the scanner, his gut feeling was dead on.
The box was filled with khat, a leafy green stimulant grown in East Africa - legal in many parts of the world, but not here.
``We find a lot of this stuff,'' says the customs inspector, who, like most officers at this plant, goes by the name of Inspector Green.
The box of khat, sent from a Swiss address, was rewrapped and put aside for the RCMP, who will decide whether to pursue criminal charges.
``To get a conviction, you have to have possession, knowledge and consent, and a lot of the people who are supposed to receive items such as narcotics and pornography often claim they had no knowledge it was being sent to them,'' Smith says.
Often, parcels are shipped through several countries before they reach the destination.
``They'll try their best to disguise the source country. But our inspectors are pretty good at what they do,'' Burfield says.
The amount of drugs seized from mail is small potatoes compared with the more than $160 million worth of narcotics found hidden on airplanes and passengers at Pearson airport this year.
On this day, another Inspector Green handled a small parcel, this time from Hong Kong, that contained small pieces of jewelry wrapped in plastic bags, complete with price tags.
``Obviously, whoever was getting these so-called Christmas gifts (was) planning on re-selling them,'' Green said.
On a rotating basis, one inspector sits in a room scanning suspicious videotapes, on the lookout for child pornography, bondage or bestiality. Tapes flagged as questionable are sent on to a prohibited-import specialist, who determines whether they'll be seized.
Customs officers aren't often surprised by what they find - including unique smuggling methods, like last year's 2 1/2-foot doll loaded with Ecstasy.
Inspectors ``see the same stuff every year,'' Burfield says. ``They can spot a legitimate Christmas gift.''
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