A 63-year-old Vancouver man who hid cocaine inside his car stereo will serve 56 months in jail after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.
John Callarec was sentenced May 24 in Salmon Arm Provincial Court and must also provide a DNA sample and was issued a lifetime ban on firearms.
Callarec has been held in custody since a Salmon Arm RCMP officer found seven kilos of cocaine hidden in a piece of car stereo equipment on Jan. 24.
Callarec alerted police attention when an officer with RCMP Traffic Services checked the licence plate on the car he was driving and noted it should have been sporting an “L” sign for a new driver.
While dealing with the driver during the routine traffic stop on the Trans-Canada Highway at Tank Hill, the officer noted several things which made him suspicious and began to investigate the driver for drug possession.
On further investigation, the officer noticed the unusual construction of the subwoofer box and located a hidden compartment inside, which contained the cocaine packages.