SEATTLE -- Thirty-eight people have been charged with drug trafficking and related offenses after a three-year investigation, the seizure of more than 1,300 pounds of cocaine, 7,000 pounds of BC bud marijuana and about $3.5 million, said the U.S. attorney’s office.

Two Canadian citizens, Robert Shannon, 38, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, and Devron Quast, 38, of Abbotsford, British Columbia, were arrested Thursday in Ferndale.

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Police suspect they are the leaders of a Canadian drug ring with connections to western Washington.

According to court documents, Shannon was allegedly in charge of distributing the drugs on behalf of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang and others.

Investigators said drugs were hidden inside hollowed-out logs on trucks, in false walls of cargo containers and vehicles, in loads of commercial lumber and beauty bark, inside large PVC pipes and inside a propane tanker.

Some loads were even carried on foot across the international border between the United States and Canada, according to court documents.

Quast provided insurance to the Canadian marijuana suppliers that the drugs would be successfully smuggled into the U.S. by agreeing to pay the suppliers $425 per pound of marijuana if it was seized or lost during transport, said the U.S. attorney’s office.

An undercover officer set up a meeting in connection with a drug deal with Quast and Shannon in Ferndale, said investigators.

They were indicted along with seven others for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

Residents from Everett and Washington have been charged with allegedly storing marijuana at their homes and delivering loads of marijuana to western Washington and California, according to court documents.

To date, 38 defendants have been charged in connection with the investigation. Twelve of them are Canadian. Some of the defendants are from as far away as Iowa, Illinois, and Ontario, Canada.

Shannon and Quast are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle Friday afternoon.

If convicted, Shannon and Quast face up to life in prison based on the drug amounts involved, said investigators.