Peter Blashill, The Province / RCMP watch as one of the Chinese migrants enters a building at armed forces base in Esquimalt.

Peter Blashill, The Province / Jim Redmond and Tracey Rook brief reporters.

VICTORIA -- RCMP confirmed yesterday that a third ship full of Chinese migrants was headed toward B.C. before U.S. authorities intercepted it last week.

Together with intelligence that another boat full of Asian migrants recently set sail for the East Coast from Lithuania, it indicates an increase in human smuggling that could stretch Canada's beleaguered immigration, police and military resources to the limit.

"If it was to continue to happen and if it became more prevalent, I would have to have a meeting with my director-general on what additional support we would need to meet this situation," said immigration spokesman Jim Redmond.

Navy Lt.-Cmdr. Gerry Pash said the problem is one the military has already stepped up patrols to contain. But the armed forces can only do so much with the resources they have.

"Everyone could require additional resources from time to time," said Pash. "How much patrolling do you want? How much . . . are Canadians prepared to finance?"

The topic was one heard on every radio station and in most coffee shops around B.C. this weekend as rumours continued to swirl about more boatloads of Chinese fleeing Fujian province in the wake of the arrival of 131 migrants on our coast this week.

Their boat came only three weeks after 123 compatriots sailed into Nootka Sound -- all of whom have since claimed refugee status in Canada.

RCMP spokeswoman Const. Tracey Rook said a boat smuggling a cargo of more than 100 Chinese migrants was diverted to the Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory near Guam. Police previously denied the existence of the boat, which was boarded as it passed through Japanese waters.

The passengers indicated that Vancouver was their final destination.

"It's a very, very lucrative business and the West Coast of B.C. is a very likely target, [owing] to our geographical location. We have a very large coast," said Rook. "This is an ongoing problem, and it's being addressed by many countries."

Immigration and RCMP continued yesterday to process the migrants apprehended at the southern tip of the Queen Charlottes on Wednesday, after being forced from the vessel that brought them to Canada.

In addition to the third vessel from China, an immigration report leaked to the media states that a fishing vessel from Lithuania is slowly making its way through the North Atlantic to Canada.

Neither U.S. nor Canadian officials have confirmed or denied the existence of the ship --Êsaid to be overloaded with "criminals."

Smugglers used the same point of origin to send a boat full of Chinese stowaways into the southern United States last week.

The issue has taken on an air of crisis, especially as suggestions surfaced in the press on the weekend that the United States may add Canada to the countries blacklisted for drug trafficking -- an organized-crime activity that police suspect goes hand-in-hand with human smuggling.

Rook said RCMP are working with agencies overseas to stop the illegal activity before it happens.

She also said police suspect that organized-crime contacts in this country are involved in bringing illegal immigrants to Canada.