Canadian admits trying to smuggle 100 pounds of cocaine from Portland to Canada
Kevin Landers shook his head as a federal judge sided with a prosecutor and ordered he remain in jail pending a trial on cocaine possession charges...
Landers had been at the Multnomah County Detention Center since he was arrested Dec. 5. Prosecutors say police found him driving a van with nearly 100 pounds of cocaine that he picked up in Portland and planned to transport back to his native Canada.
"I'm a good man," Landers, 51, told Acosta in U.S. District Court...
...But he was also a "good cocaine smuggler" with no ties to Oregon and plenty of incentive to flee back across the border to his wife and six children and escape a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, Keirn said.
... he was a stay-at-home dad who had been driving cocaine from the U.S. into Canada 20 times in the last 12 months and was paid $10,000 each time...
...Landers was leaving a Red Lion hotel near the Portland International Airport in December, when he committed a traffic violation...
A police drug dog detected narcotics in Landers' Nissan Quest and four duffle bags with a total of 42 kilograms of cocaine were found in a hidden compartment in the back of the van, the affidavit said. The drugs were estimated to have a value of $1.3 million...
Acosta agreed that Landers was a flight risk and a possible community risk if he was released. The judge ordered he remain detained on a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Landers pleaded not guilty..
