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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer has been arrested by his own colleagues and charged with trying to smuggle more than 500 pounds of marijuana from Canada into Washington.
Corey W. Whitfield, of Point Roberts, Whatcom County, was stopped at the border in Blaine on Sept. 13, driving a white van into the United States. When asked for identification, Whitfield, who had been employed as a border agent for eight years, presented a diplomatic passport.
According to charges filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Whitfield said, "I'm one of us" and claimed he was transporting an engine to a repair shop in the United States.
Suspicious, the border agent asked to look in the back of Whitfield's van, which turned out to contain the engine block, as well as about 535 pounds of marijuana stuffed into cabinets, court documents alleged.
Whitfield at first claimed not to know there was marijuana in the van, but he later stated that he had been coerced into a scheme devised by another man, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors say Whitfield said he met the other man at a party while moonlighting as a bodyguard and agreed to drive the van across the border.
Prosecutors say Whitfield told agents he was forced into the scheme when the partygoer showed him photos of Whitfield in "compromising situations involving illegal drugs and a sexual encounter with a female at the party" and threatened to send them to his wife, the charging documents say.
Prosecutors said they think Whitfield had made at least one previous smuggling trip.
A detention hearing is scheduled for today. If convicted, Whitfield could face at least five years behind bars.
Seattle Times
By Maureen O'Hagan
mohagan@seattletimes.com
© 2004 The Seattle Times Company
https://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002036906_potbust16m.html
Corey W. Whitfield, of Point Roberts, Whatcom County, was stopped at the border in Blaine on Sept. 13, driving a white van into the United States. When asked for identification, Whitfield, who had been employed as a border agent for eight years, presented a diplomatic passport.
According to charges filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Whitfield said, "I'm one of us" and claimed he was transporting an engine to a repair shop in the United States.
Suspicious, the border agent asked to look in the back of Whitfield's van, which turned out to contain the engine block, as well as about 535 pounds of marijuana stuffed into cabinets, court documents alleged.
Whitfield at first claimed not to know there was marijuana in the van, but he later stated that he had been coerced into a scheme devised by another man, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors say Whitfield said he met the other man at a party while moonlighting as a bodyguard and agreed to drive the van across the border.
Prosecutors say Whitfield told agents he was forced into the scheme when the partygoer showed him photos of Whitfield in "compromising situations involving illegal drugs and a sexual encounter with a female at the party" and threatened to send them to his wife, the charging documents say.
Prosecutors said they think Whitfield had made at least one previous smuggling trip.
A detention hearing is scheduled for today. If convicted, Whitfield could face at least five years behind bars.
Seattle Times
By Maureen O'Hagan
mohagan@seattletimes.com
© 2004 The Seattle Times Company
https://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002036906_potbust16m.html
