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SHUSWAP - A Shuswap man accused of participating in a massive cross-border drug smuggling operation has turned himself in.

Colin Martin presented himself to the Salmon Arm RCMP detachment last week to be extradited to the U.S., RCMP Sgt. Murray McNeil confirmed today, Dec. 18.

Martin tried to appeal the most recent decision ordering him extradited, but his application was dismissed in the Supreme Court of Canada on Dec. 14. He previously argued that the U.S. had mishandled his case and that his Metis heritage would not be considered during sentencing in the States.

The offences themselves date back about a decade. According to U.S. court documents that name Colin Martin, as well as co-conspirators Sean William Doak, James Gregory Cameron and Adam Christian Serrano, the group used helicopters to fly marijuana and MDMA to the U.S. between 2007 and 2009. Cocaine would be picked up in the U.S. and flown back to Canada, according to the indictment.

Court documents also allege that the conspirators used encrypted Blackberry devices and satellite phones to coordinate deliveries and personnel.

Martin has been fighting the extradition order since it was imposed in 2014. Two of his alleged co-conspirators, meanwhile, have already been sentenced. Doak was extradited to the U.S. where he was sentenced to seven years in jail. 

Serrano was sentenced in the U.S. to three years, according to a report from the Vancouver Sun. The same report says Cameron continues to fight his extradition order, and is currently awaiting a ruling on his application to appeal. 

Another conspirator, Samuel Lindsay-Brown, was caught in 2009 flying 420 pounds of marijuana into the U.S., court documents say. He was arrested and later hung himself in a Spokane jail. Another pilot tied to the case, Jeremy Snow, was found murdered in West Kelowna in 2013.

In 2014, Martin was sentenced to two years in jail related to a large grow-op located in Malakwa, a rural Shuswap community.

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