Shuswap man accused of hauling cocaine
Michael Yuill, shown in a 2005 Observer photo dressed as Shrek at Halloween, was arrested in Washington on cocaine possession. The U.S. court heard that Yuill was known around Salmon Arm as being the guy who dressed up as Shrek. He was also previously employed at Outlaws Saloon and had at one time operated a satellite company.
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Updated: October 23, 2009 3:34 PM
A Salmon Arm man is facing federal drug trafficking charges in Washington state after he caught the attention in September of employees at the Spokane International Airport.
On Oct. 7, Michael Barry Yuill, 36, was arrested on the Colville Indian Reservation after being followed by agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He is now being held without bond in the Spokane County Jail, pending the filing of charges.
An affidavit filed Oct. 8 in federal court in Spokane states Yuill was found with 38 bricks of cocaine stashed in duffel bags in a rented 2009 Nissan SUV.
According to the document, the trail began when, on Sept. 17, employees at the airport identified Yuill as suspicious because, during the previous four months, he had rented several SUVs at the airport and returned them with unusually high mileage – about 3,000 miles.
On Oct. 1, agents determined that Yuill had crossed the border at Laurier, Wash. from B.C. on a red Honda motorcycle. The document states the motorcycle was observed on Oct. 2 in the parking lot of the Econolodge Inn in Spokane.
On Oct. 6, a man with a description similar to Yuill’s was observed entering a black 2009 Nissan SUV and the SUV was then seen arriving at ABC Mini Storage in Spokane. The vehicle was later seen arriving at the Black Bear Motel in Davenport, Wash. A man matching Yuill’s description was seen entering the motel carrying two duffel bags.
The affidavit states that about 4:20 a.m. on Oct. 7, a federal agent saw a man matching Yuill’s description leave the hotel with the duffel bags. The vehicle was followed as it travelled west and north. About 5:40 a.m., law enforcement agents stopped the vehicle on the Colville Indian Reservation. Because of the location of the stop, the agents moved the SUV and Yuill to the parking lot of the Grand Coulee Dam National Monument where they asked to look in the bags.
Inside, they observed, according to the affidavit, “38 clear, heat-sealed, plastic packages, each apparently containing a solid ‘block’ or ‘brick,’ approximately two inches thick, nine inches long and five inches wide... The weight of the 38 packages including packaging, was 47.15 kilograms.”
The contents were determined to be cocaine, the affidavit states.
During a bail hearing Oct. 13, a U.S. magistrate judge determined that Yuill should be kept in custody.
Federal charges in the U.S. can only be filed if approved by a grand jury, and a grand jury will be meeting this week.
At this point, Yuill is being held on a complaint of possession with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
