BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Two brothers from Bellingham, Wash., have been convicted of various charges after attempting to smuggle more than 29 kilograms of cocaine into British Columbia.
The U.S. Department of Justice says 46-year-old John Brown Jr. drove to Los Angeles in November 2014 to pick up cocaine, valued at over $2 million.
The department says Brown contacted his 38-year-old brother Derrick Carter to help in the smuggling operation before the pair recruited a cousin and another man from Surrey, B.C., to carry the cocaine over the border in backpacks.
It says Carter was stopped for speeding near the border by a sheriff's deputy and that U.S. Border Patrol personnel later spotted three people running north from the border.
Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney's Office, says RCMP arrested the cousin and the Canadian man with three backpacks containing items including cocaine, camouflage gear and a firearm.
Brown and Carter are scheduled for a sentencing hearing in October and face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years to life in prison.
