Third sentence handed down in Argentina-Kelowna drug smuggling bust

KELOWNA — The courts have now sentenced the third man convicted of importing a huge amount of cocaine into the Okanagan.

In October 2010, RCMP seized an industrial fruit grinder that had been shipped from Argentina to Kelowna.

The machine contained 98 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of about $3.5 million. Tariq Aslam, a Surrey resident, has been handed a seven year prison term but was given six months credit for time served before being granted bail.

The ring leader in the cocaine smuggling conspiracy, Clifford Montgomery of West Kelowna, was earlier sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

The third man, Mexican resident Salvador Ascencio Chavez, was given a 13 year sentence.