December 29, 1999
Web posted at: 11:52 p.m. EST (0452 GMT)

In this story: 'A lot of people would die' Border controls cramp trade $330 billion flows across U.S.-Canadian border RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- Smuggling suspect Ahmed Ressam had all the components needed to make a large chain reaction device when he was arrested at the Canadian border earlier in December, terrorism experts tell CNN.

Ressam, a 32-year-old Algerian, was arrested December 14 in Washington state after coming across the border in a rented car that allegedly contained bomb-making material.

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Timers, detonation material and highly explosive chemicals were found in the trunk of his car, the terrorism experts said. Those chemicals were powerful enough to touch off more than 100 pounds of the primary explosive -- urea, which is used to manufacture explosives and fertilizer, according to a senior law enforcement official and an explosives expert who reviewed the Ressam indictment at CNN's request.

"It could possibly collapse a small building," said Robert F. Finke, a former official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a specialist on bombings and terrorism.

"If they add shrapnel to it, divide it into four separate charges or two charges, then you would have a very large hand grenade that would be devastating to a lot of people. A lot of people would die, a lot of people would be injured," Finke said.

CNN has learned that senior law enforcement officials from Canada are to arrive in Washington on Thursday to meet with FBI Director Louis Freeh. Their objective is to coordinate counter-terrorism strategy, the Ressam investigation and border security.

A van is searched at the U.S.-Canadian border on Wednesday

Meanwhile, tightened security at the U.S.-Canada border is creating long and sometimes costly delays.

Mark Badgely, a driver for the Windsor, Ontario, truck firm Elite Expediting, makes up to five trips across the Ambassador Bridge into Michigan each day -- mostly delivering components for auto assembly lines.

It used to take about a half hour to clear Customs, but since a heightened state of alert was placed on the border, he said it takes him up to three hours.

"Actually, I noticed since the beginning of November they really started cracking down," said Badgely. "I think it's basically that they're scared, and I don't blame them."

But Badgely's boss says the delays are causing huge problems in making delivery deadlines to the auto plants.

"We haven't lost any business, but the 'Big Three' (automakers) are not the most understanding when it comes to border delays," said Brent Groh, owner of Elite Expediting.

The U.S. Customs Service said the added scrutiny is not an overreaction to threats of terrorism, but the result of following procedures during a heightened state of alert.

"Everything we have our hands on -- we're going to examine it closely, scrutinize the paperwork and ensure ourselves the product and the truck are in compliance with all laws," said Customs Service Director of Field Operations Kevin Weeks.

Cross border commerce between the U.S. and Canada is huge. Canada is the U.S.'s largest trading partner, with trade between the neighbors totaling $330 billion in 1998.

Even after the state of heightened alert ends, Customs officials don't expect the slowdown at the border to abate much -- because the current volume of 6,500 trucks a day through the Detroit crossing is expected to rise to more than 7,000 next year.

With that in mind, the Customs Service says it's working to streamline the process while still ensuring security.

"We're trying to devise ways, methods, strategies to move that truck forward, because we don't want to affect the American economy," Weeks said.

At Elite Expediting, which sends 15 to 20 trucks across the border each day, Groh is trying to remain patient -- but he says something must be done and soon.

Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and Detroit Bureau Chief Ed Garsten contributed to this report.