PORT ANGELES — Federal agents have arrested four men accused of trying to smuggle 465 pounds of the club drug ecstasy from Canada, according to court documents.
That amount slightly exceeds the record amount seized at U.S. borders since 2003, according to numbers provided by an official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday.
The drugs were taken from the cabin of a 24-foot Maxum boat Friday, Just Chillin’, that arrived in Clallam County from Vancouver, British Columbia, according to statements from the suspects included in federal court documents.
The amount of the drug as described in court documents comes from the combined weight of five hockey-type bags and suitcases found in the cabin, wrote U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Nathan F. Clammer.
Arrested by federal agents were Ka Wai Andy Cheung, Wing Ho Jimmy Ho, King Yin Peter Fong and Ying Wai Wong, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma Monday.
The men are accused of conspiring to import ecstasy and possessing with intent to distribute ecstasy.
If convicted, the men could face more than 10 years in prison, documents say.
A Cantonese translator was present for the hearings, the documents say, but the ages and hometowns of the men were not included in the complaint.
U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Emily Langlie, said the amount of drugs seized was “in excess” of 400 pounds.
“It’s a huge amount,” Langlie said.
She did not know the estimated street value of the drugs.
Willie Hicks, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said the current U.S. record for border seizures of ecstasy was about 463 pounds, or 670,870 tablets, seized at the Blaine border crossing in March.
Agents follow men
Agents began following the three men after they crossed into the U.S. through the Blaine border on Oct. 17.
Agents identified the passengers in the vehicle as Fong, Cheung and Wong, documents say.
The men then drove to Port Angeles and checked into the Quality Inn in Port Angeles at 2 Laurel St., where they spent the night.
The next day, the men drove along Highway 112 where they looked over boat ramps and marinas, the documents say.
The men returned to the Quality Inn, but shortly after that day, they left and returned to Bellingham, where they spent the night in a hotel.
On Oct. 19, agents watched the men rent a truck and bought a boat trailer and return to Port Angeles.
They went back to the Quality Inn and attempted to get a refund on the room they rented, but were refused, the documents say.
So they drove to the Super 8 Motel at 2104 E. First St. and spent the night.
On Oct. 20, the men drove to a boat ramp at Freshwater Bay.
At about 10 a.m., a boat arrived in the bay and the men attempted to load the boat onto the trailer.
The driver of the boat was identified as Ho, documents say.
But the trailer was too small, documents say.
“Because the trailer was too small for the boat, the trailer and the rental truck became submerged in the ocean,” Clammer wrote.
“Consequently, (the men) were unable to drive the rental truck , trailer and boat out of the water.”
Agents help out
Agents approached the men and helped them pull the truck, trailer and boat out of the water.
Then, they identified themselves and began asking questions “about their activities.”
The men gave conflicting accounts, according to court documents.
The agents contacted Clallam County Superior Court Judge George Wood and obtained a warrant to search the men and their property for “documents related to the immigration status” of the men.
After breaking the lock on the cabin door of the boat, the agents allegedly discovered the hockey bags and suitcases, which included dryer sheets, which are used to cover up the smell of drugs, documents say.
Another warrant to search for drugs was obtained from Judge Wood and a dog and a field test revealed that a pill taken from one of the bags contained MDMA, or methylenedioxymethampheta-mine, documents say.
Department of Homeland Security agents told investigators that the boat had not been logged as crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
“There are indications that the boat did not go though usual procedures,” Langlie said.
Men talk to agents
After being arrested, Wong invoked his right to remain silent but the rest of the men spoke to agents.
Cheung said that it was the second time he brought drugs from Canada into the U.S.
He said he was smuggling the drugs to pay off a gambling debt, plus get paid $200,000.
Cheung also said Ho, Wong and Fong were being paid to help transport the drugs.
Ho told investigators he was hired by Cheung and had driven the boat from a slip in Vancouver to Freshwater Bay, leaving at 6 a.m.
Fong said he didn’t know there were drugs aboard and that the men were just putting the boat in the water.
Ecstasy is a drug often associated with dance clubs and raves.
It has become one of the most widely used illegal drugs next to marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.
In 2005 and so far in 2006, no one has been charged in Callam County Superior Court with selling ecstasy.
Reporter Andrew Binion can be reached at 360-417-3537 or andrew.binion@peninsuladailynews.com.
