Three Men Indicted On Drug Charges

A grand jury in Spokane has returned indictments that accuse three Western Washington men of smuggling nearly 100 pounds of marijuana from Canada.

With the highly potent marijuana, known as B.C. Bud, investigators also found individually wrapped chocolates in hockey gym bags smuggled across the border.

The chocolates were stuffed with marijuana.

One federal official said the chocolates were another way of consuming marijuana, but a senior drug investigator said it was merely a smuggling technique.

“With this high-powered B.C. pot, users want to smoke it, not eat it inside candy,” the drug investigator said.

Michael Leonard Bowman, 48, of Stanwood, Wash., his brother, Steven Roy Bowman, 43, of Granite Falls, Wash., and William J. Matteson Jr., 23, of Kent, Wash., are named in the indictment.

Each is charged with importation of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Post said.

The three were arrested about 2 a.m. on April 21 when the smuggling was spotted by officers conducting surveillance on the border in Okanogan County, Post said.

The arrests are the latest indicator of what authorities say is a glut of British Columbia-grown marijuana being smuggled into Washington state.

Much of the potent marijuana is destined for large cities, where it sells for as much as $8,000 a pound.

In many of the cases, the smugglers carrying bags of pot hike across the U.S.-Canada border at remote locations. Hockey bags and backpacks are particular favorites, investigators say.

In the new case, Post said, Michael Bowman and Matteson are accused of carrying 98 pounds of pot over the border. Investigators also found 10 pounds of the chocolate pot candy in the hockey bags.

“We have not seen this before,” Post said of the pot candy.

The smuggling occurred at a nonborder crossing point near Molson, Wash., in Okanogan County, Post said.

The two were picked up in a truck driven by Steven Bowman that was stopped about 1-1/2 miles from the border by Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

This sidebar appeared with the story: STRATEGY GOING REMOTE Authorities say marijuana smuggling shifted to remote border roads east of the Cascades after increased inspections near the Blaine, Wash., crossing on I-5.