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.