Page 20 - Flathead Beacon // 8.31.16

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2014 shooting at Parliament Hill.
Last week, the Canadian government released a public report on the current and emerging terrorist threats facing the country. The report, unveiled Aug. 25, details the persistent national secu- rity issues related to the so-called Islamic State and ISIL. Canadian extremist trav- elers represent a small but notable part of the broader international problem, the government report stated. In 2014, the Canadian government reported that about 130 individuals from Canada were abroad and suspected of engaging in ter- rorism-related activity. At the end of 2015, the number had grown to about 180, and more than half are believed to be in
Turkey, Iraq or Syria, the report stated. Ralph Goodale, minister of Canada’s public safety and emergency prepared- ness o ce, said returning extremist trav- elers may also raise serious security con- cerns for their home countries. At the end of 2015, the government o cials knew of about 60 extremist travelers who had
returned to Canada.
As national security concerns
increase up north, the U.S. government has expanded its focus along the north- ern border, including the remote section through Glacier National Park.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Beacon revealed that the U.S. government has kept a close eye spe- ci cally on the Goat Haunt area.
The U.S. Department of the Navy acknowledged a 2013 presentation pro- posing special operations training for SEALs in the area. The presentation was deemed secret under executive order and was provided to the Beacon via the FOIA request but was essentially entirely redacted. J.D. Thorleifson, Chief of Sta for the U.S. Navy, said in a letter that there were no records indicating the pro- posed training actually occurred.
A separate FOIA request with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security showed that the agency has conducted continuous operations and information gathering speci c to the Goat Haunt area dating back at least a decade. The agency provided the Beacon with 82 pages of information, which was also heavily redacted. Information about the most
Border Patrol agents launch a boat on Upper Waterton Lake before departing toward Goat Haunt. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
recent operation in 2015 indicates the agency has focused on improving collabo- ration with other agencies in the U.S. and Canada, as well as inspection procedures and enforcement strategies.
The operation’s stated mission was to work with local, federal and interna- tional partners to “uncover and develop timely intelligence with regard to trans- national criminal organizations, terror- ists, terrorist weapons, alien and nar- cotic smuggling and illegal aliens whose activity and movement can be facilitated through the Goat Haunt area,” the FOIA request showed.
It later continued, “The intent of this operation is to patrol and utilize tech- nology to apprehend the smugglers and illegal aliens who take advantage of the sparsely populated, rugged terrain in the Goat Haunt area to further their illegal entry into the United States, and to dis- rupt and degrade transnational criminal organizations that utilize this method of entry to transit (into) the United States
for the purposes of furthering their crim- inal enterprise.”
The agency’s heightened scrutiny of the remote area is largely connected to Waterton, where more than 450,000 people visited this past year. More than 34,000 people take the boat into Goat Haunt each summer, according to the agency, and “tourists disembarking from this tour boat represent a diverse range of nationalities,” the Operation Goat Haunt 2015 presentation states. The next page, presumably expounding on that asser- tion, is redacted.
“The Goat Haunt area has been adver- tised in various outdoor recreation ven- ues as the least visited remote area of Glacier National Park. This operation is targeted to improve the Border Patrol’s certainty of arrest of those who enter the U.S. illegally as well as reduce smuggling and crimes associated with smuggling,” the presentation states.
In May, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a 33-year-old man from
Mongolia who had been dropped near Waterton, close to the Chief Mountain Port of Entry, and entered the U.S. ille- gally through the forest. The man was wearing camou age clothing and carry- ing a large du el bag when a border agent stopped him along U.S. Highway 17.
“This is a great example of how our agents exercise vigilance,” said Havre Border Patrol Sector Public A airs O - cer Michael Rappold. “They’re always ready to carry out our agency’s mission and safeguard the public.”
Rappold declined to provide any fur- ther details about the man’s motives or what he was carrying.
James B. Cox, the patrol agent in charge at the U.S. Border Patrol St. Mary Station, which arrested the 33-year-old man, said illegal entries such as the May incident are fairly uncommon, but can be complicated due to the rugged terrain.
“I’ve worked on the northern border and the southern border. On the south- ern border, you get volume. You get a
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