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4 Tons of Marijuana, 805 Pounds of Cocaine Seized in Border Probe
Scott Gutierrez
It's all a big game folks, the drug lords, "The U.S. Corporate Government", with it's CIA lackeys and bagmen, are the main suppliers of drugs on the streets of America, and it has been such since before the Vietnam War, and only a complete Moron on Prozac, Haledon and Thorazine could not see it for what it is. . . oh, and apparently U.S. Citizens too.
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(Article)
BELLINGHAM -- Forty-five people have been indicted in connection to a smuggling network that relied on helicopters to deliver tons of marijuana and cocaine between Canada and Washington and boasted to be "better than FedEx," U.S. and Canadian authorities announced today. Forty people have been arrested so far.
The two-year investigation, dubbed "Operation Frozen Timber," pitted law enforcement agents on both sides of the border against smugglers who dropped payloads of "B.C. bud" into remote wooded locations in exchange for cocaine that they ferried back to Canada.
They "literally took cross-border smuggling to new heights," said Julie Myers, Homeland Security assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement, during a morning press conference at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection hangar at the Bellingham airport.
"One smuggler was quoted as saying they were better than FedEx and delivered anywhere in Washington state," Myers said.
During the investigation, authorities seized about 4 tons of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine and $1.5 million in cash. In addition, agents confiscated a helicopter and Cessna airplane in the U.S. and another helicopter in British Columbia. Dramatic surveillance video showed a helicopter with hundreds of pounds of marijuana lashed to its skids, swooping in before dawn to a remote clearing in Okanogan National Forest and releasing the drugs to a waiting pickup truck and flying off again.
In one bust in February 2005, agents seized five suitcases stuffed with 328 pounds of cocaine in Washington, the largest cocaine seizure in the state last year. Suspects have been indicted in federal court in Seattle and Spokane. Six people have been arrested in Canada, and others are being extradited to Canada. U.S. Attorney John McKay said drug ring leader Robert Kesling is serving 17 years in federal prison as a result of the drug smuggling probe.
The pilots that flew contraband over the border where unlicensed and flew older or shoddy aircraft, raising concerns about air safety in addition to border security.
In the last 13 months, two helicopters associated with the smuggling network crashed in Canada, killing three people. "There was no idea how to read instrumentation for some of these pilots. They were just basically flying visually," said Norm Massie of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's "E" Division Border Integrity Program.
This report includes information from The Associated Press. Scott Gutierrez can be reached at 206-448-8334 or scottgutierrez@seattlepi.com.