Agency says man hiding 53 pounds of ecstasy
BLAINE - A Delta, B.C., man was arrested Thursday at the Peace Arch crossing after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers said they found more than 93,000 ecstasy tablets - about 53 pounds - hidden in the gas tank of the truck he was driving.
The border agency identified the suspect as Tavinder Singh Randhawa, 28, a student at Bellingham Technical College.
He had used a NEXUS frequent-traveler card for daily trips across the border, the border agency reported in a press release. According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, an X-ray inspection of his 1991 Ford pickup truck detected the hidden gas-tank compartment and led to his arrest on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute the drug, plus a conspiracy charge.
Randhawa appeared Thursday before a U.S. magistrate in Seattle and was held pending a hearing.