500+ Pounds Of BC Bud Nets Canadian Man 30 Months In Prison
TACOMA, Wash. - Colin Charles Crowe, 27, of Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada, was sentenced on March 21, 2011 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to import a controlled substance. Crowe and Kyle Grayson Gadsby were arrested May 31, 2010 while attempting to smuggle more than 547 pounds of BC Bud marijuana into the U.S. near Clallam Bay, Washington.
According to records filed in the case, Crowe and Gadsby were first spotted by a Border Patrol agent with a small boat just off shore. One man was in the boat, and the other was in the water standing next to it. Inside the boat a large number of dark packages were spotted and the men were ordered to stay where they were. Instead, the men sped off in the boat. A short time later, another Border Patrol agent spotted the men still in U.S. waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Nearby, eight large bundles wrapped in plastic and duct tape were floating in the water. The marijuana in the bundles weighed more than 547 pounds. The men told authorities they were being paid $5,000 to smuggle the BC Bud into the United States. Engine trouble stopped the men from fleeing back to Canada after being spotted.
Co-defendant Gadsby is scheduled to be sentenced April 25, 2011.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement (DEA) with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs (ICE).
