A Whatcom County man who once told agents he smuggled pounds of cocaine across the border to Canada two or three times each week - and used his wife and kids to help - was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday, Oct. 19.
Estevan Olmos, 40, was caught at the border dropping off a man who tried to run into Canada, according to records filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. He admitted to U.S. Border Patrol agents he would charge people about $500 each for rides to the border. He was not arrested.
Investigators found Olmos had a storage unit in Everson. Two days later the owner of the storage business said a woman and kids - Olmos' family - had dropped off suitcases overnight, according to the charges. After bringing in a drug-sniffing dog and getting a warrant, officers found about 42 pounds of cocaine in the unit. The drugs were destined for Canada.
Olmos was arrested the next day at a casino in Whatcom County. He admitted to smuggling cocaine across the border two or three times a week. Once, he confessed, he brought about 66 pounds of cocaine in a single shipment.
His defense attorneys and family argued, in court records, that Olmos spiraled into a depression when he found out about sexual abuse committed against someone close to him in 2011 - leading him to drink, lose his job, separate from his wife, and eventually turn to crime.
Prosecutors countered by arguing the seriousness of Olmos' offense: He smuggled cocaine at least 24 times across the border for a period of at least three months. The purity level of the smuggled cocaine was about 75 percent, versus the regular purity of street cocaine of 5 to 20 percent. Even at a lower purity level, the drugs found in the storage unit alone would have been worth $750,000.
In June, an accomplice in the smuggling, Adrian Osorio-Arroyo, was caught picking up the "merchandise" from the storage unit. He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison followed by deportation to Mexico.
Reach CALEB HUTTON at caleb.hutton@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2276.
