B.C. chopper pilot who flew drugs across Canada-U.S. border pleads guilty

VANCOUVER – A B.C. helicopter pilot who flew drugs over the border into the United States has pleaded guilty and is headed to prison.

The U.S. Department of Justice says 61-year-old Henry Rosenau of Armstrong, B.C., entered the guilty plea to conspiracy to import marijuana just hours before his trial was scheduled to begin.

Rosenau admits that between 2000 and 2005, he flew dozens of loads of so-called “B.C. Bud” marijuana into forested areas of Washington, Idaho and Montana.

He also flew other Canadians into the U.S. to work as offloaders and transporters for the drug shipments.

A news release says in 2005, the RCMP found a loaded handgun, night vision goggles, two satellite phones and a GPS device that contained the locations of landing sites used by marijuana traffickers.

Rosenau will be sentenced in October on a charge that carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison and maximum of 40 years.