Page 14 - Customs Today Winter1984-OCR

Lynden. A neat and precise town, Lyn- Inspector John Lupien clears a
den has a yearly tulip festival. Lawns are traveler at Anchorage
well maintained and the street signs are International A irport.
so carefully lined up that a surveyor
would be proud. The Customhouse, a
small brick building, has blackberries
growing next to it. On May 24, 1979, In
spector Kenneth "Jerry" Ward was shot
to death there as he was making a TECS
query. His killer, an escaped murderer,
was captured some 10 hours later after a
massive manhunt.
The Customhouse at Suma, Wash
Port Townsend, Wash., Port
ington, another 20 miles further east, has
two chimneys, one of which is false. Director Dennis Atkinson listens to
Swifts have selected the false chimney as a woman's complaint about a missing
a place to roost. The building will package. He offered to call New York
to help trace the missing parcel.
become a museum, because of the birds,
if a new facility is built. Plans for a new
Customhouse have been presented sev
eral times during the past 15-20 years.
Blaine, Wash., is the main gateway
to Canada and to the city of Vancouver,
British Columbia. It is the third largest
port on the Canadian border and num Brick buildings are being sandblasted date preceded Oregon's statehood by
bers eleventh nationally. The Peace Arch and the town is growing with shops and some seven years. In 1849 this area was
celebrates the open border between the restaurants. known as the Oregon Territories. Astoria
United States and Canada. Erected in
Dennis Atkinson, Port Townsend lies at the mouth of the Columbia River,
1814, following the War of 1812, the Port Director, has been there for one- the second largest river in North Amer
Peace Arch was built with pennies col and-a-half years. He says, on balance, ica. It was here that the Lewis and Clark
lected from school children on both sides that the job is excellent. The community
of the border. A plaque states "May is nice and he can walk to work. He is Expedition ended in 1806.
these gates never close." Today, Astoria is a one-man port,
able to spend time with his family. The run by Inspector Newton E. Smith, who
In addition to a high volume of pas has been there for 19 years. He recalls the
port includes two marinas, which have
senger traffic, Blaine gets an enormous sailboats for Vancouver, and an interna events of May 18, 1980, when Mount St.
number of containers trucked down from tional airport that averages 100 flights Helens erupted, sending some four bil
Vancouver. Blaine has a full complement each year. An occasional commercial lion cubic yards of debris and volcanic
of import specialists to deal with ash into the sky. The pyroclastic flows
shipment of wood pulp chips from
importations. Canada and military clearance for the and mudflows produced deposits so ex
Enforcement results at Blaine differ Naval base round out his routine. tensive and enormous that they blocked
from the southern border and reflect to As is true with all paradises, the job the shipping channel of the Oolumbia
some extent the difference between the has some negative aspects. The port di River, 70 miles away.
northern and southern borders. Blaine rector is "the Customs Service" in town Cargo destined for Portland and
seizures tend to be for currency violations, and is very visible. Atkinson is subject to other inland ports couldn't move beyond
like money undeclared and going from weekend phone calls and very limited the mouth of the River. For 10 days, Mr.
Canada to the United States. While the relief for vacations and time away from Smith was unable to leave his office. He
U.S. views Mexico as a drug source and the job. had to remain and clear the vessels
transit country, Canada views the U.S. as Seattle, the District Headquarters, loaded with automobiles and steel. Mr.
a drug source and transit country. was described by someone as being a Smith slept, when he could, on a wooden
Port Townsend, located on a penin small San Francisco. In front of the Fed settee in his office. His wife came by
sula on Puget Sound, is a pleasant two- eral Building was a vendor selling ex- occasionally to visit and drop off some
hour journey from Seattle, first by ferry presso and cappuccino coffee from a food.
and then over one long tollbridge, near a butane-powered machine. Last year, the As it usually is with one-person
Naval submarine base, and finally district collected $409 million in duty; operations, he is subject to call 24 hours a
through some heavily forested Northwest $300 million of that came from Seattle. It day, seven days a week. He clears some
country. The port appears to be a small is a prototype district with a major sea 15-20 aircraft a year at the landing rights
paradise. The Customs office is located port, airport and land border crossings. airport and inspects 24% of the vessels
in a large building, erected in 1896. Its There are also small airports and small entering the Columbia River. Last year
initial cost was $250,000. In the early Canadian border ports. And there is, he inspected 443 ships.
days, the tonnage of cargo cleared came throughout, the beauty of the Northwest. In 1976, Mr. Smith was involved
close to that of New York. That was the It is a Region of extremes. It is a with a major smuggling case involving
justification for such a Customhouse. Region of history. 8-1/2 tons of marijuana in a 75-foot
The town itself is picturesque and rich The first Customs Office to be es fishing vessel. The case was originated by
with tourists. It is going through a renew tablished on the Pacific Coast was an Oregon State Game Commission of
al, back to its late 19th Century ways. Astoria, Ore., on April 3, 1849. This ficer who discovered a large amount of

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