Patterned after the highly successful, land-based SPS project called the Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET), IMET was founded to bring interested agencies together, on an informal basis, to address problems of mutual concern and to combine resources. The combined efforts of the RAIC/Blaine, the Border Patrol, Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Canadian Customs and Excise Division were brought together to help surmount the marine smuggling threat.

Photo Credit: Gerald L. Nino

IMET boat, Sea Sport, returning to the port of Blaine after a surveillance opeartion.

There was concern that, due to the effect that IBET had on land-based smuggling of marijuana between the Blaine area ports of entry, organizations were undertaking "end runs" through the Canadian gulf islands and the U.S. San Juan Islands in order to bring their illegal shipments to market. Their product, BC Bud, is a hybrid that usually has a THC content well over 20 percent and is generally grown indoors. This marijuana has a wholesale value of approximately $3,000 per pound when it crosses the U.S. border and commands as much as $6,000 wholesale per pound in Southern California. Only the buds are sold, and it is never compacted so that the end user is assured of buying only the premium part of the plant - unlike the low potency marijuana crossing our southern border, which is adulterated with seeds and stems.

The first IMET operation
In March 2000, the operation concentrated on vessels entering U.S. waters at the western boundaries of the San Juan Islands. Enforcement assets included two U.S. Customs vessels crewed by RAIC/Blaine agents, one RCMP vessel, two Coast Guard vessels, and air surveillance provided by RCMP and U.S. Customs aircraft. The U.S. Customs Office of Field Operations in Tacoma also provided assistance.

The very first vessel encountered, which was tracked to Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, contained marijuana with a wholesale value of $399,000. A similar load was discovered on the second day of the three-day operation. Within six days of the start of the operation, RAIC/Blaine had seized two more vessels with marijuana aboard and one northbound vessel with $189,000 in U.S. currency.

Due to the cooperation of the participating agencies, the majority of IMET's successes have been intelligence-driven and predicated by prior investigations. Additionally, the IMET presence on the islands is very low-key, with a high level of selective enforcement employed, since random boardings in marked vessels would be counterproductive in that casual island environment.

Through the combining of relatively scarce resources in the Northwest and reliance on the Air and Marine Interdiction Division in San Diego for logistical support and training, the IMET is making a difference. The key to IMET's success lies with the dedicated investigators who are willing to develop the expertise and endure the long hours, hardships, dangers, and often harsh conditions that go with marine enforcement.