LANGLEY, B.C. – B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) president Paul Landry has responded angrily to a report in the Vancouver Sun that the trucking industry has been infiltrated by organized crime.

The Sun article relied only on sources from a single trucking company and several unnamed truckers who said they were concerned about organized crime within the trucking industry.

Despite interviewing Landry, the Sun did not include any of his comments, which would have added balance to the story, the BCTA says.

Landry denied drug smuggling is a significant problem within the trucking industry. U.S. Customs officials also told the paper that drug smuggling in trucks is minor.

To prove his case, Landry pointed out U.S. border officials process 34,0000 southbound trucks per month at the Pacific Highway crossing – Western Canada’s busiest commercial crossing.

There have only been 70 significant marijuana seizures at that crossing over the past three years. That amounts to one seizure for every 17,486 trucks. That’s about .00057 per cent of the trucks that cross the border.

“This is hardly widespread,” the BCTA said in a release. “Unfortunately the Vancouver Sun chose crass sensationalism over objective reporting.”

Landry has also voiced frustration about a recent television report that suggested cocaine and crystal meth use was rampant among truck drivers. The story relied on an unidentified trucker as its only source.