OTTAWA: A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for his involvement in a ring that used low-flying helicopters to smuggle cocaine and marijuana across the U.S. border in 2008 and 2009.
After fighting extradition for years, Sean William Doak pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday.
Prosecutors say the conspiracy was headed by Colin Hugh Martin, who has yet to be brought to the U.S.
The group used helicopters leased through a front company to fly hundreds of pounds of marijuana at a time into remote forest clearings in Washington state. The pilots would meet drivers bringing shipments of cocaine up from the Los Angeles area, and fly that back into British Columbia.
One pilot, Sam Lindsay-Brown, committed suicide in the Spokane County Jail after he flew into a setup.
