Canadians indicted in federal drug smuggling
Three Canadian men have been indicted on federal drug smuggling charges after they were caught in an attempt to hike more than 190 pounds of cocaine and ecstasy across the United States border in the Yaak area north of Libby.
On June 13, Kristopher Glenn Pfeifer and Preston Frederick Lahmer were charged in the Montana District Ninth Circuit Court with felony conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute ecstasy, a Schedule I substance. On the same day, Matthew Desmond Browne was indicted on felony charges of illegal possession with intent to distribute cocaine, a Schedule II substance.
Browne was initially arrested on June 8, when a Lincoln County sergeant pulled him over for speeding. Court documents say Browne appeared nervous and shaky during the stop, prompting the sergeant to request a K-9 unit, which reportedly found 145 pounds of cocaine in a false bed in Browne’s pickup. Browne, from British Columbia, according to court documents, allegedly told the sergeant that he was driving from California to meet with other smugglers near the Yaak who would hike the cocaine across the border into Canada.
Court documents estimate the 145-pound pack of cocaine allegedly found in Browne’s vehicle to be worth $1.3 million in the United States and $2.6 million in Canada. Browne allegedly told officers that during the previous six weeks he had transported more than 120 kilograms (264 pounds) of cocaine within the state of California, where the drugs had originated during his arrest. Browne allegedly told officers that a week earlier, he transported 50 kilograms of cocaine from California to the Yaak where it was then smuggled over the Canadian border.
Deputies reported finding “a little black book” during the arrest containing directions to the drop-off spot where Browne would have delivered the cocaine to the hiking smugglers around 8 a.m. on June 9, the next morning. Deputies took Browne’s pickup to the meet at 8 a.m., where they found a man waiting for Browne. That man ran into the woods; reportedly dropped a pistol and left behind three backpacks containing more than 45 pounds of ecstasy. The deputies immediately searched the woods for three suspects, presumably because there were three backpacks, producing the arrests of Pfeifer and Lahmer, both Canadian citizens and the two other codefendants in the case.
Lahmer allegedly told police he and Pfeifer were dropped off by their employers in Canada, hiked across the border through the Yaak to deliver illegal drugs (Lahmer said he didn’t know the contents of the packages), to unknown contacts in the United States and hike back into Canada with a different package. Lahmer said he would be paid $10,000 for the trip, according to court documents.
Browne, Lahmer and Pfeifer were arraigned on June 24, although the documents from that arraignment are sealed. The same day the court issued an order of temporary detention, requiring the three to be detained until Monday. A U.S. attorney will have until Monday to file a motion to either detain the defendants for further court proceedings or deport them.
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.