A Surrey man has pleaded guilty to organizing an attempt to smuggle 41 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. 12 years ago.
According to a news release issued last week by the U.S. Department of Justice, Kevin Donald Kerfoot pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy April 25 in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Set for sentencing on July 27, he faces a minimum 10-year jail term.
Kerfoot, 53, was indicted in July 2006, nine months after his co-conspirators were arrested in the Bellingham area as they tried to move the cocaine up the I-5 and onto a boat for transit to Canada, the release states.
The vehicle was stopped by a Washington State Trooper, and a narcotics K-9 alerted to the drug’s presence.
The captain of the boat, which had been waiting at the Bellingham marina, was arrested, as were two other men who had been waiting to pick up and distribute ecstasy that had been ferried from Canada on the boat, the release states.
Kerfoot was identified as the person in charge of the smuggling operation.
The other members of the ring were sentenced to prison terms ranging from just over three years to 6½ years; all have served their penalties and have since been released.
The release notes that Kerfoot had fought extradition from Canada for years, but was ultimately arraigned in December 2016.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with with assistance from the Washington State Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard and the RCMP.