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The conspiracy -- which U.S. prosecutors say was tied to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang -- saw marijuana shipped south in PVC pipe, hollowed out logs, wood chips and hidden compartments in tractor-trailer trucks.
In sentencing 36-year-old Jody York, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik said the smuggling operation had a terrible impact on British Columbia and part of the U.S. and it's the children who suffer when communities are riddled with violence.
York and Edward Russell were considered the managers of the drug group and were both given more than four-and-a-half years in prison, while five other B.C. men were given sentenced ranging from one-year in jail to probation.
The case involved a three-year investigation that saw 54 people charged, thousands of kilograms of marijuana and cocaine seized along with millions in cash.
Forty-eight people have been convicted, including the ring leader, Rob Shannon of Langley, B.C., who was given a 20-year jail term.
Two hundred kilograms of Colombian cocaine was seized in the Eastern European country of Albania, the country's largest ever drug haul, El Espectador reported Tuesday.
The drugs were found diluted in palm oil container on a truck with Macedonian license plates in the southern Albanian town of Gjirostraka, according to the Albanian Prosecutor General's Office.
The cocaine had passed through Spain, Belgium, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia before arriving in Albania.
The seizure was made possible through the cooperation of police and prosecutors from other European countries, including Spain and Belgium.
Police so far have arrested two Macedonians and one Albanian on drug trafficking charges and continue to search for more members in the drug network.
US drones have entered Mexican territory to help track down drug gang activity, Mexican and US government officials confirmed Wednesday, but stressed that they have been used only in specific instances and under Mexican supervision.
The drones had been requested by the Mexican government to conduct surveillance 'particularly in the border area, to attain concrete goals in the field of security,' Mexico's National Security Council said in a statement.
'(Mexico) has requested from the United States government the support of drones on specific occasions and events,' the council said.
The move is part of an increased US role in Mexico's drug wars. In Washington, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the action but referred reporters to the Mexican government for details.
The New York Times earlier Wednesday reported that the United States has been sending high-altitude, unarmed drones into Mexico since last month. Some drones were being sent deep into Mexican territory to help locate drug traffickers and their networks.
The Sun Herald reported the vessel's captain, James O'Carroll, is being held pending trial. Crew members J. Boone Ferrie and Brian Parker are free on bond.
Court papers show the vessel Sarah Moira was intercepted off Bay St. Louis on Nov. 21 as a result of a Homeland Security investigation in Boston, Jacksonville, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.
All three were indicted on charges of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import marijuana, possession with intent to distribute and importation with intent to distribute.
Each count carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison.
18:02
"The navy's INS Kalpeni intercepted pirate mother vessel Vega 5 in the sea Saturday 9 p.m. Thirteen crew members were rescued and 61 pirates nabbed," a navy spokesperson said.
The rescued sailors and arrested pirates, whose nationality was being ascertained, were being brought to Mumbai and Kochi.
The operation comes days after India said it was tweaking its navy's rules of engagement against pirates in the Indian Ocean to widen the scope of its offensive operations within the framework of international laws of the seas.
Detailing the operation, the spokesperson said naval surveillance aircraft Dornier received a call from MV Vancouver Bridge that had come under a pirate attack Friday.
The aircraft located Vega 5 in the area. Seeing the naval aircraft, the pirates immediately aborted their attempt and tried to escape from the area.
The patrol aircraft continuously tracked the pirate mother ship. Warships Khukri, a missile corvette, and Kalpeni, a water jet fast attack craft, were diverted to intercept Vega 5.
On Saturday night, Kalpeni closed in on Vega 5 and, in the darkness, the pirate mother vessel fired at Kalpeni.
This was responded with limited firing, the spokesperson said, adding that the mother vessel caught fire.
The navy recovered 74 personnel -- 61 pirates and 13 members of the original crew of the fishing vessel Vega 5, a Mozambique-flagged ship that was hijacked Dec 28. It was being used as mother vessel by pirates.
The nationality of the rescued sailors was not immediately known.
The pirates were carrying about 80 to 90 small arms and rifles and a few heavier weapons, apparently rocket projectile launchers.
The intercepted vessel had been a risk to international shipping for last four months and has carried out several attacks, the spokesperson said.
South eastern Arabian Sea is a focal point of international traffic and the security of these sea lanes is critical to the flow of global trade.
The Indian Navy has sustained its anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden since October 2008.
The navy apprehended two pirate mother ships in January and February in the Arabian Sea. Forty-three pirates had been apprehended in these incidents.
