U.S. man tried to float illegal drugs to Canada in duffel bags he bought in Walmart

The U.S. Department of Justice is seen on June 20, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Kevin Dietsch /Getty Images

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A 69-year-old man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for trying to float hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine from Washington state to Canada via the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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John Michael Sherwood, a former resident of Rhode Island, Texas, and Chicago, was sentenced on Friday in a Seattle court for three federal felonies connected to his 2021 scheme to smuggle duffel bags full of drugs across the strait.

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The scheme was uncovered after a family came across one of the bags on a Washington beach in April, 2021. The family alerted law enforcement, who found more than 20 kilograms of methamphetamine inside the bag, as well as a kilogram of fentanyl powder, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

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Around a similar time, a different beachcomber discovered a partially submerged and deflated raft, and noted a U-Haul van coming and going from the area. Just days later, another beachgoer found seven more duffel bags stashed under a bridge near the beach containing 114 kilograms of methamphetamine. The estimated wholesale value of the drugs in Canada was about $1.5 million.

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The FBI traced the purchases of the bags to Walmart, where Sherwood was captured on surveillance making the purchases with his debit card. U-Haul rental records, motel registration, and storage locker records also linked Sherwood to the smuggling attempt, while phone records revealed his communication with a coconspirator in Canada.

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“The eight large duffel bags of methamphetamine found on the beach near Port Angeles are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this defendant’s drug smuggling,” said first assistant U.S. attorney Neil Floyd in the DoJ news release. “Evidence uncovered in the case show he made multiple drug runs to the Washington/British Columbia border to connect with his coconspirator in Canada. Over five decades he racked up five federal felonies. This 15-year sentence is the result of his persistent and entrenched criminal behaviour.”

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At the trial, it was revealed that Sherwood had taken approximately 130 kilograms of methamphetamine and close to a kilogram of fentanyl powder to the Olympic Peninsula from southern California, and was attempting to use a jet ski and inflatable raft to get the drugs across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to his contact on Vancouver Island.

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Sherwood brought approximately 130 kilograms of methamphetamine and close to a kilogram of fentanyl powder from California to Washington state. United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington

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“A family’s shocking discovery of drugs at the beach exemplified the brazenness of Mr. Sherwood’s multiple plans to smuggle huge quantities of drugs into Canada, part of a career of criminality spanning state lines, international borders, and several decades,” said W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI Seattle field office, in the news release.

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At the sentencing hearing, Judge Richard A. Jones described Sherwood as “a mad man desperate for money.” He added: “What you were doing would cause tremendous harm to thousands of individuals.”

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And describing the role Sherwood and his coconspirators played in the drug trade, assistant U.S. attorney Vince Lombardi said in closing arguments: “They are the FedEx or the UPS of the drug trafficking crew.”