Former Malakwa resident pleads guilty to helicopter drug trafficking

Mar 23, 2018 | 6:57 AM

SEATTLE —   A B-C man who ran a helicopter-based drug-smuggling ring long before Washington state legalized marijuana pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after years of fighting his extradition to the U-S.

     Colin Hugh Martin, formerly of Malakwa, east of Kamloops,  entered the plea in U-S District Court in Seattle yesterday.

     He faces five to 40 years in prison. The U-S Attorney’s Office says it would recommend no more than 10 years when he is sentenced in June.

     The 46-year-old father of six admitted he headed a drug ring that flew marijuana and M-D-M-A, or ecstasy, south into Washington state and exchanged it for cocaine, which was then flown north into Canada.