SAN JUAN COUNTY, Wash. — U.S. authorities reported that they stopped a small boat carrying a large shipment of methamphetamine after they saw it riding low in the water in the San Juan Islands.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers stopped the 18-foot Bayliner speedboat on Wednesday as it was headed toward Canada.
They reported finding 1,432 pounds of meth on board, packed in 28 duffel bags secured with luggage padlocks.
The boat’s occupant, identified as an Alberta, Canada resident, was arrested on a drug distribution count. He made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday.
The suspect's attorney, federal public defender Vanessa Pai-Thompson, declined to comment.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, the suspect told investigators that he had been hiking near a marina in Sidney, on Vancouver Island when someone approached him and offered him $1,000 to move a boat from Sidney to Anacortes, Washington, and back.
According to the complaint, the suspect said he left from Vancouver Island on Tuesday.
He said four men met him at a Washington State Parks boat dock, took the boat on a trailer and dropped him off at an inn.
The next day, they brought him back to the dock and he left in the newly loaded boat to return to Canada.
He said he did not know what was in the duffel bags, the complaint said.
The suspect faces charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Due to the amount of drugs, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.