Man charged after trying to smuggle $500,000 into Canada from U.S.

For the first time in Alberta, authorities have laid charges under federal anti-money laundering legislation against a man who allegedly tried to smuggle $500,000 into the country at the Coutts border crossing.

Joseph Dale Butler, 34, of St. Thomas, Ont. has been charged with failing to report the importation of currency into Canada under the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.

The charges come six months after Canada Border Services Agency officers at Coutts found $477,050 US stuffed inside a hockey bag that was hidden in a secret compartment built into a horse trailer.

Officers at Coutts, 100 kilometres south of Lethbridge, made the discovery on April 20 after searching a Ford F350 pickup truck and horse trailer driven by a man returning to Canada from the U.S.

Authorities said the driver’s answers to routine questions were inconsistent, prompting the officers to subject him and the vehicles to a secondary inspection.

“The officers started taking a look at his trailer and his vehicle,” said Candace Lyle, an operations manager with CBSA in Calgary.

One way officers find secret compartments is by comparing the inside and outside measurements of vehicles and containers, Lyle said.

The Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act requires anyone entering Canada to disclose if they’re carrying any amount of cash larger than $10,000.

Although enacted in part to combat terrorism after the 9/11 attacks of 2001, the legislation is also designed to prevent organized crime groups from hiding profits earned by illegal rackets like drugs and prostitution — usually done by “laundering” the cash through investments in legitimate businesses.

“Ultimately, these guys don’t like creating a paper trail,” said RCMP Sgt. Stephen Scott of the integrated proceeds of crime unit in Calgary.

Investigators believe the money seized at Coutts is tied to the cross-border drug trade, though Scott added authorities haven’t been able to link the cash to a particular criminal organization.

At the time of the seizure, the RCMP and border services questioned Butler and released him without charges.

After gathering evidence over six months, authorities charged Butler and issued an Alberta-wide warrant for his arrest.

Scott said police have been in contact with their counterparts in Ontario and they know where Butler is — though it’s not clear when he will be returned to Alberta to face charges,

In addition to the count under the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act, Butler is charged under the Criminal Code with possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000 and laundering proceeds of crime.

Meanwhile the cash and horse trailer have been forfeited to the Crown as proceeds of crime. The pickup truck may be forfeited as offence-related property if there is a conviction in the case.

JVANRASSEL@THEHERALD.CANWEST.COM

Source: The Calgary Herald