US and Canadian officers announced Operation Frozen Timber on 29 June 2006 after breaking six rings that flew marijuana south across the border by helicopter. They seized 8,000 pounds of marijuana, issued 45 indictments and arrested more than 40 people.
🇺🇸 Bellingham, Washington · Washington, United States
US and Canadian officers announced the results of Operation Frozen Timber at a press
conference in Bellingham, Washington, on 29 June 2006.[1][2]The investigation, which
began in November 2004, targeted six smuggling rings that flew marijuana south across the
border in helicopters and small planes while flying cocaine north.[1][2]
Investigators seized8,000 pounds (about 3.63 tonnes) of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine
and more than 1.5 million US dollars in currency.[1][2]Federal prosecutors in Seattle
and Spokane issued 45 indictments, and more than 40 people were arrested in the United
States, with further arrests in Canada.[1][2]The crews flew low through the Okanogan
National Forest and North Cascades National Park to evade radar, landing in clearings
where loads were transferred to pickup trucks in as little as 43 seconds.[1]One alleged
ringleader, Robert Kesling, received 17 years in federal prison.[2]In Canada, police
arrested Daryl Desjardins and Dustin Haugen in Chilliwack and made four further
arrests.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
A 70-year-old man was arrested and booked into jail after Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board officers and Snohomish County deputies searched a property near Monroe on 6 November 2026. Investigators seized approximately 2,700 live and dried marijuana plants from what they described as an unlicensed cannabis production operation.
HSI in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, said two go-fast vessels carrying about 3,200 kilograms of marijuana and 3,188 kilograms of cocaine were intercepted under Operation Iron Current, a case against a Colombia-based trafficking organization. ICE put the street value of the haul at more than $80.5 million.
Indiana State Police seized nearly 1,000 grams of suspected marijuana alongside cocaine, fentanyl and guns in Operation Iron Scale raids on 3 November 2026 across Fort Wayne, Huntertown and Noblesville. Twelve people were arrested on felony conspiracy and narcotics-dealing charges, with no separate marijuana charges reported.
Waynesville police seized more than $56,000 worth of THC products said to have been sold or given to middle and high school children, arresting one person. Police said many items contained marijuana or THC extracts in youth-friendly packaging and warned parents about their appearance.
