A Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), man is slated to serve 2.5 years in U.S. prison after being convicted of leading a most unusual pot smuggling ring: transporting marijuana into the U.S. by “snowshoe” via mountain trails leading into the United States by way of Washington state.
According to U.S. prosecutors, the Canadian man was leading a snowshoe marijuana smuggling ring and attempting to transport the drug into the U.S. country via Washington state—smuggling the pot via treacherous mountain trails.
Richard Bafaro, age 45, brought tears into Seattle court—claiming the snowshoe smuggling ring he led was a decision he was forced to make in order to save his own life. The snowshoe smuggler says he had to pay back drug dealers $70,000 for marijuana “supply” lost while “on the road” in Canada’s wilderness. Essentially, Bafaro says he lost a large load of expensive bud pot on one of his trips—a loss which he claims, in turn, led him to smuggle more marijuana into the United States so that he could cover the large financial debt to pot dealers.
The Canadian smuggler says that on one of his treks to look for the missing $70,000 marijuana load, a “friend” and fellow snowshoe smuggler became badly injured on the drug transportation journey—requiring medical airlift out of the Canadian forest.
Five men in the drug smuggling ring, led by Bafaro, have been arrested--all linked to the leader’s marijuana operation. Each man has been sentenced to United States prison terms ranging between respective times between eight months and one year. The head of the snowshoe smuggling drug ring himself has been convicted of “conspiracy to distribute marijuana” for leading the operation, now slated to spend 30 months in U.S. prison for the pot ring.
No word on the what the drug smuggling leader’s plans would have been, had he successfully been able to continue transporting marijuana into the U.S—and not lost the $70,000 load, which he claims led to further snowshoe smuggling required in order to “cover” his debt to pot suppliers.