Canadian border guards at Beaver Creek made two seizures of marijuana last weekend, a spokeswoman with border services has confirmed today.

Faith St. John told the Star guards seized 27 grams of pot in one case, and 10 grams in the other.

One of the seizures involved a non-resident Canadian who was turned back to Alaska, she said.

St. John said officers at the border crossing told her today that seizure of marijuana is not all that unusual, that it's quite routine.

Officers who find drugs make an arrest, then conduct a thorough search of the vehicle to determine if there are any additional drugs, she said.

St. John said the officers have the option of penalizing and releasing the individual with a fine under the Customs Act, laying a criminal charge themselves, bringing in the RCMP to conduct a further investigation and lay charges, or all of the above.

Officers take the type of drug and amount into account when assessing the appropriate course of action, she explained.

St. John acknowledged the officer does have the option of levying a fine and releasing the individual if the circumstances are minor.

Trevor Baird, chief of the border services officers in Beaver Creek, explained early this afternoon that border officers deal on a daily basis with all types of infractions.

There is everything from drug offences, to illegal weapons, impaired driving and immigration matters.

Just this past spring, he pointed out, a 20-year-old man from Washington state was turned away at the Pleasant Camp border crossing on the Haines Road and charged with possession of child pornography.

Drugs, said Baird, is likely in the top three categories of border infractions.

He said if the seizure last weekend was something of signficance, there would have been a press release.

But even 27 grams of pot, a gram short of a pound, were not something considered unusual, he said.

'It's a lot, but not out of the realm of what we deal with,' he said. 'It's not anything out of the ordinary. It's quite routine.'

Baird said he could not comment on any specifics, like revealing whether the individual turned back to Alaska had the 10 grams or the 27 grams.

He said the RCMP were notified of both cases.

'Very often, we work in conjunction with the RCMP to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted,' he said.

Cpl. Mark London, head of the Beaver Creek detachment, said today last weekend's incident is still under investigation, but he could not comment further at this time.