Pubdate: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) B.C. MAN NABBED IN U.S. FOR POT SMUGGLING 'It's Like An Epidemic Up Here,' Says Sheriff NESPELEM, Wash. -- A Vancouver Island man has been arrested after an investigation into an aerial marijuana smuggling attempt. In a separate case, authorities reported a large cocaine seizure north of Oroville, just south of the border. The two episodes involved illegal drugs with a combined value of about $5 million, authorities said. "It's like an epidemic up here, stuff going back and forth across this border," Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said. Kevin Haughton, 41, of Courtenay, has been charged in U.S. District Court in Spokane with possession of more than 100 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute. Haughton, held at the Spokane County Jail, faces five to 40 years in prison if convicted. Haughton was arrested after a tribal police officer noticed him walking on the Colville Indian reserve, tribal police Chief Rory Gilliland said. Haughton matched a description of the pilot of a float plane carrying marijuana, Gilliland said. A day earlier, tribal officers found a pilot unloading hockey bags from the plane on the shore of the Columbia River between Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. Officers hurled a rock at the propeller to keep the pilot from taking off, but he paddled the plane across the river and fled on foot, eluding Okanogan and Douglas County sheriff's deputies equipped with dirt bikes, night-vision goggles and a tracking dog. Authorities said the hockey bags contained about $2 million worth of marijuana and pills believed to be ecstasy. Gilliland said a float plane was used in at least two other marijuana drops in the past four months. Two men believed to have retrieved pot from the earlier drops have been arrested, one in February at Omak Lake and another in December at Soap Lake. Meanwhile, officials said 44 kilograms of cocaine valued at more than $3.1 million was found in backpacks dropped by three people who fled on foot after being confronted by border patrol agents near Oroville. The three were heading toward the border in a remote area east of Lake Osoyoos on March 11, authorities said. - --- MAP posted-by: Tom