Okanogan officials bust drug transfer

Drug officials in Okanogan County knew something was up when a float plane was landing in tiny Soap Lake, just one mile long and relatively shallow.

They watched the plane land, its occupants load several duffel bags into a boat, and the plane take off again, all in about seven minutes. Then officers arrested Vancouver, B.C., residents Sharmila Kumar, 37, and Shailen Varma, 25, as they came to shore.

Officers impounded an SUV and found almost 325 pounds of packaged marijuana inside, worth about $1.5 million, said Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers. To him and the North Central Washington Narcotics Task Force, the arrest was a drop in the bucket.

“It’s almost like this is nothing to us,” Rogers said. “It’s happening so much, it’s ridiculous.”

Rogers has seen drugs entering the United States from Canada via many modes of transportation, including airplanes, helicopters and canoes.

“They come any way they can,” he said. “It’s well-orchestrated, and they plan this well in advance. It’s a daily event.”

The natural terrain in Okanogan County, situated next to the Canadian border and home to the Pasayten Wilderness, makes it easier for drug traffickers to sneak across the border, Rogers said.

Airplanes will fly low to the ground or in canyons to make scheduled drops of drugs, and even if someone reports the activity, the remote locations are often inaccessible to law enforcement, he said. Kumar and Varma will face drug trafficking charges in Okanogan County and may also face federal charges, Rogers said.