ICE Top 10 most wanted drug smuggler receives 10 years in prison
French/Canadian citizen evaded law enforcement for 6 years
SEATTLE – One of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, following a thorough probe by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Prior to his capture in 2015, Martin Briand, 37, spent more than six years on the run from law enforcement. He was originally identified by border agents in the U.S. and Canada in 2009 as a person of interest who was extensively involved in smuggling cocaine into Canada. A warrant was issued for Briand’s arrest following the seizure of more than 59 kilos of cocaine in December 2009, and he was placed on ICE’s Top 10 most wanted fugitives list. In December 2015, he was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport upon arrival on a flight from France where he was detained pending extradition. Briand agreed to be transferred to the U.S. to face indictment in March 2016.
According to court records, border agents became aware of Briand’s smuggling operation in October 2009 when two men tried to cross the northern border in a taxi with bags that screened positive for cocaine residue. The men claimed they entered the U.S. illegally by walking across the border into the U.S. at Point Roberts – a small peninsula of the U.S. that extends below the Canadian border. From there, the men flew to Seattle in a private charter plane and on to California where they met Briand. Briand covered all of the travel expenses and accompanied the men on a private plane back to Washington.
“HSI special agents disrupted a narcotics trafficking organization by identifying and targeting a lead conspirator circumventing our border security and customs protocols,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “Our partners, both foreign and domestic, combined efforts to take down one of ICE’s Top 10 most wanted fugitives and present the solid evidence needed to obtain a successful prosecution.”
HSI’s investigation revealed Briand made 30 separate trips on private planes from Point Roberts to locations within the U.S. between April 9 and Nov. 2, 2009. During that same period, Briand entered the U.S. legally on only one occasion. On Dec. 8, 2009, law enforcement surveilled Briand as he began yet another charter trip, with a co-defendant, that ended up at the Skagit County Airport where the two men were seen struggling to load heavy bags into a pick-up truck. The truck was encountered by law enforcement and a drug detection dog alerted to the presence of narcotics.
A Washington State Trooper seized the bags being transported by Briand and his associate who were allowed to leave the scene. The men abandoned the truck and Briand fled to Canada. Despite being contacted by law enforcement, Briand refused to return to the U.S. to face charges.
“In just six months in 2009, this defendant made 29 flights in chartered aircraft between Point Roberts, Washington and points south without ever legally entering the U.S.,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “These frequent illegal border crossings are a hallmark of drug smugglers. In his final trip, a Washington State Trooper caught him with nearly 60 kilos of cocaine. Anyone responsible for transporting these kinds of quantities of illegal drugs also is responsible for feeding countless drug addictions and the misery that comes with them, and thus deserves the lengthy sentence imposed in this case.”
The case was investigated in cooperation with the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Border Patrol, with additional assistance provided by Washington State Patrol (WSP), HSI investigators in Los Angeles and Vancouver; and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Bureau Violators Team.
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