importing SWIG extension DLL from VC++

[Refrigerator Johnny]

>From VC++, I cant seem to import an extension DLL made with SWIG?
for example:
po = PyImport_ImportModule("import simple");
po = PyRun_String("simple.jbtestfn()",Py_eval_input, pdict, pdict);

in the python interpreter I can:
import simple
simple.jbtestfn()
with no problems.

This is just a simple test. I have a bigger problem, where importing an
extension DLL causes an assertion?
any insight/suggestions would be appreciated!
-john