A Washington State man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to smuggle $3.5 million worth of cocaine into B.C. under the false floor of his minivan.
Scott Fleming Powers, 49, was arrested in December along with his wife as they tried to cross the border into Canada at the Carson Port of Entry near Grand Forks.
Border officers were suspicious about the couple's story and decided to search the minivan, where they found two sophisticated, electronically-operated compartments that had been installed where "Stow ‘n Go" seats used to be.
Inside the hidden compartments were 83 one-kilogram bundles of powder cocaine.
Powers pleaded guilty last month to one count each of importation of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in Kamloops provincial court, and was sentenced to 14 years in jail with credit for four months already served.
The minivan will be seized by the court.
Powers' wife Diane Marie Green Powers was also charged in the smuggling scheme, but those charges were stayed in court.
