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Monday, August 26, 2019

Canada: Cross-border drug bust near Princeton involved helicopter chase

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat TY Ciro from Vancouver Sun 


Reading like a script for a Hollywood blockbuster, court documents filed in Penticton recount a high-stakes game of cat and mouse that involved nearly 200 kilograms of methamphetamine and played out in the skies over the Similkameen Valley in June.  Details of the incident are spelled out in paperwork filed by police in order to obtain multiple search warrants for a property near Chilliwack, where a helicopter at the centre of the chase is alleged to have eventually landed with an RCMP plane on its tail.


Const. Jared Zeeman of the Osoyoos-based RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime Section explains in the documents his office was alerted in early June by counterparts at the Homeland Security Investigations branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about a planned cross-border drug deal they intended to bust.

HSI agents believed a helicopter from Canada would touch down to pick up a load of drugs June 11 in a heavily wooded area near Winthrop, Wash., then return to Canada. The landing site is 60 kilometres south of the Canada-U.S. border and 110 kilometres south of Princeton.

After setting up surveillance on the landing site in Washington, the HSI agents watched as the pilot of a black helicopter began circling to land, then suddenly reversed course and headed north after apparently spotting the agents.

HSI agents on the ground subsequently arrested two men leaving the landing zone and allegedly found in their possession 188 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, the RCMP had a plane patrolling the north side of the border near Princeton in a bid to intercept the helicopter as it arrived back in Canadian air space.

Officers finally spotted the helicopter, with no visible markings, parked in a shadow on a remote mountainside in Manning Park about five kilometres north of the Canada-U.S. border.

Soon after, the helicopter lifted off again and tried to shake its tail as it headed west.

“The helicopter took deliberate evasive action, attempting to lose surveillance. The helicopter flew at very low altitudes, near the tops of trees and up narrow draws. It repeatedly changed direction, and made rapid ascents up towards the mountains,” Zeeman wrote.

“The helicopter varied its speed in an attempt to outrun the RCMP aircraft, and slowed down to have the RCMP aircraft overtake it.

“The helicopter appeared to set up to land on two occasions, luring the RCMP aircraft down, then would rapidly ascend towards the mountains.”

About 45 minutes after taking off from the clearing, Mounties watched from above as the helicopter landed at a rural property near Chilliwack.

Searches of the property allegedly turned up 72 long guns, 35 handguns, ammunition, cellphone jammers, U.S. government helicopter decals, drones and currency from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, according to the court documents.

26 comments:

  1. Bb readers what are the current prices In Canada of illegal drugs from street level to high level ?

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    1. Not entirely sure but meth is cheap because all the homeless tweakers seem to have it daily. Marijuana is legal there are government approved stores selling it depends on the type you want low end $35 Canadian for an 8th, high end much more depends on strain. Can mail order it.

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    2. Coke is like 45 / key if its high heat, 1800 an Oz, 300 a ball and 100/120/g

      Heroin is all over the place, its. mostly fentynal now, usually 25$ a point and 200 a G, larger amount are all over the place. No idea about meth...
      and we do our green...

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  2. Nice bust.
    The North Pacific region is a hotbed for drug trafficking.

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    1. Pos a guebo! No fences on the north border, he heheheee, and you ain't seen nothing yet, the beaches open all along the west and the east coasts, even to Russian submarines...
      --Wonder what happened to that Space Iron Courtain Reagan made for his Star Wars? Now it looks like a Wall of BS express made to bilk the US government of some money.

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  3. HA, Asian triads, Punjabi mafia, white groups, Arabs, all involved

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  4. Wow.id be so pissed if it was my property he landed on

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  5. Nice bust seize the chopper

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  6. Chivis/Sol, when are you guys getting on the Joe Rogan podcast? He has been highlighting cartel activity lately.

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    1. the one with Ed Calderon is the most accurate you will get

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    2. 7:28 Joe Rogan is one sensationalist, clown, promoting movies without really doing anything about "the real narco" or the strange forces behind it.
      But Johnson & Johnson is getting a fine of close to 600 million dollars in their Oklahoma trial for their part in the opioid epidemic that cost he US about 400 000 deaths due to legal prescription, the other US states are watching like eagles, licking their claws before filing their own lawsuits...

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    3. 7:28 thanks for the heads up. I’ll have to look into it. Keep in mind we all have our own lives to live. So, it’s not always as easy to stay informed about everything.

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    4. How ridiculous that j&j be blamed for doctor misconduct and the dea shouldve created a network of info sharing by pharmacies a long time ago. Is the US government gonna stop or fine china and India who are supplying Mexican cartels with all the pharmaceutical components to make all the opioids hitting the streets

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    5. Sure Sol. I just bring it up because Joe's podcast is the probably best honest long form coverage Mexico and the drug war can get right now. He wouldn't sugar coat this stuff. He is also a big fan of legalization.

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  7. I was born and live and work in Penticton and Princeton is adjacent (am in Sinaloa for the summer right now till Sept). Canadian courts are very lenient. US might force deportation to there even if the suspects are Canadian. Just another day. Drugs all over the streets in my town. Lots of meth addicts. My city has been called Methticton lately. I feel safer in my residential in Mazatlan.

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    1. Shut up with ur B's in all of Canada there was 600 murders for and Mexico had 30000 murders and that's NT counting the ones that got chopped up or disappeared.

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    2. 9:29 I am sure you made your Residences in Methricton and Sinaloa from bean farming. Thanks for sharing...

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    3. Mazatlan is not safer the Pentiction

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    4. 12:46 thank you for your comment you said what I wanted to say. I am honored to be living in Canada and will stay as long as they let me. Beautiful contry with beautiful people they will give you the shirt off there backs them canadians

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    5. Haha no bean farming? Nope actually I work for the government 30 years now and have some insight in these matters. I have also lived in Mexico as well for years off and on and did have a 35mm and .38 Special there in the past for safety. I am a woman. Learned to shoot in Hawaii at age 21 with ex military. I feel safe in Mazatlan. Always paid the security a bit of extra to keep a lookout because I am here with the kid. Never go out at night not into drugs or bars. In Penticton In the last year ppl have creeped around my house too much.

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  8. KG That whole province of British Columbia has had a reputation for years as a hotbed of drugs and druggy culture.I have lived there myself and drugs just everywhere.Not that they are't also elsewhere but maybe just more of them and society seems to be more open to that west coast laid back hippie druggy culture there as opposed to elsewere.

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    1. Yup. Cops don’t bust users for possession of anything. Open needle use on the streets. Lived in Vancouver for a while too same thing.

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  9. Great coordination efforts with 2 agencies, you work together to get results. Unfortunately in Mexico, that happens at a slower pace.
    Mexico-Observer

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  10. At 4:20am also just and couple hours ago..Perdue Pharma settling 10-12 billion dollar settlement in opioid academic which the owners are the Sackler family... if willing to give that up imagine how much they made from 1997-2017... like they always say “follow the money”

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    Replies
    1. Easily 100 billion. And that’s being conservative.

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