Large Quantities of Ecstasy & Meth Seized

Detroit U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Ambassador Bridge discovered 23.9 kilograms of ecstasy and five kilograms of methamphetamine in the spare tire of a car, attempting to make entry into the U.S. via the Nexus lane. The car, driven by a 35-year-old male Canadian citizen from Whitby, ON, was entering the United States on Wednesday at approximately 1 p.m. using the Nexus lane at the Ambassador Bridge. The driver told the inspecting officer that he was golfing and that he had nothing to declare. CBP officers in Detroit seized almost 65 pounds of ecstasy and methamphetamine from a spare tire. When the driver was referred to the secondary area for further inspection CBP officers (CBPO) checking the car discovered that the spare tire was extremely clean in comparison with the rest of the undercarriage of the car. Two officers removed the spare tire and discovered that it felt quite heavy. A canine team was requested and upon arrival inspected the car and tire with a positive reaction to the tire. The on duty supervisor authorized the opening of the tire which led to officers finding several plastic bags containing multicolored pills. The officers removed 14 bags of pills and five bags of an off-white pasty substance from the tire. Field testing of the pills was positive for ecstasy and the pasty substance testes positive for methamphetamine. A total of 23.9 kilos (52 pounds), or approximately 72,900 ecstasy pills, with a street value of approximately $36,450, and five kilos (11 pounds) of methamphetamine were recovered. The driver, his car and the drugs were all turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents for further investigation.