DOWNED PILOT SHIPPED POT FROM LANGLEY

A South Surrey man who served time for flying pot across the border has
been identified as the owner of a single-engine plane that crashed near
Keremeos last week, near a trail of marijuana that appears to have been
dumped from the air.

Glen Cuthbert Finch, who also listed a South Okanagan address, was a
high-rolling Surrey pot smuggler who pleaded guilty in 2000 to sneaking
marijuana across the border in his homemade airplane.

He was sentenced to three years in jail under a plea bargain where he
agreed to turn over $1 million worth of property purchased with his drug
profits.

Investigators said they could not confirm or deny that Finch was the pilot
of the crashed plane because no criminal charges have been laid so far.

They will only say the pilot of the single-engine plane registered to Finch
will appear in court Feb. 7, and will likely face a number of criminal
charges, including possible drug and customs violations.

The suspect was arrested Oct. 5 after the light plane crashed in a field
west of Keremeos.

"The actions of the pilot have caused police to believe he was involved in
criminal activity," said Staff-Sgt. Walt Makepeace of the South Okanagan
RCMP detachment.

The pilot was being tracked by a U.S. Customs aircraft after he failed to
report crossing the border.

Police say that the pilot landed in Princeton first, where RCMP attempted
to approach the plane. The aircraft took off again, heading east toward
Keremeos where it ran out of fuel and crashed in a field at 4:39 p.m.

The pilot left the site and was picked up by a motorist who alerted police.

RCMP did not find drugs on the plane, but were able to locate a significant
amount of marijuana along the route from Princeton to Keremeos, said Makepeace.

In July of 2000, Finch pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of
marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, one count of possession of the
proceeds of crime and one count of breaching parole.

He had used an unlicensed two-seater single engine plane to move B.C.
marijuana from Langley to buyers in Washington State, Oregon and California.

He was arrested while he was loading bags of marijuana into a car at a
rented airport hangar in Langley.

Police seized $1 million in property under proceeds of crime legislation.

The profits from smuggling pot were substantial for Finch, who enjoyed a
lavish lifestyle that included a Porsche Boxster sports car, a 1992
Harley-Davidson motorcycle, lakeside property in Osoyoos, three speedboats
and an extensive wine collection valued at roughly $50,000.

At the time of his arrest, Finch was a known associate of Surrey marijuana
growing mastermind Donald Briere, who was sentenced to four years in jail
after being convicted of laundering an estimated $2.3 million acquired from
pot sales by using the illegally obtained money to buy legal or "clean"
property. He was also found guilty of a number of other drug-related offences.

This September, Briere's parole was revoked and he was returned to jail
after he was arrested by Vancouver Police for allegedly supplying pot to a
controversial Vancouver store that sold marijuana over the counter.

Briere had confirmed his involvement in the "Da Kine Smoke and Beverage
Shop" during an interview with MetroValley News, saying the store was set
up by the Canadian Sanctuary Society - a non-profit group he founded that
it is dedicated to helping people legally obtain marijuana for medical
purposes.

The store closed down after repeated raids by Vancouver police. Briere ran
as a Marijuana Party candidate in Surrey in the last provincial election.