kamikaze213
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Affidavit details $7 million ecstasy bust in Woodland
Affidavit details $7 million ecstasy bust in Woodland
By Denny Walsh
Published: Wednesday, May. 20, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 3B
Authorities say they discovered more than $7 million worth of ecstasy and nearly half a million dollars in cash over the weekend hidden in a truck during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Woodland.
Robert James Fox, a Canadian citizen, is charged in a criminal complaint filed Monday in Sacramento federal court with possessing ecstasy for distribution, importing a controlled substance and smuggling more than $10,000 into the United States.
He made appearances Monday and Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows but has not been released. The judge told Fox's attorney that there must be substantial collateral before release on bail is considered.
Fox, 37, was northbound in a 2008 Peterbilt flatbed tow truck with a British Columbia license plates when he was pulled over Saturday by California Highway Patrol Officer Lamberto Montaño for speeding, according to the affidavit of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in support of the complaint.
While Montaño was citing Fox, the officer "observed several discrepancies under the bed of the truck that (were) indicative of … a hidden compartment," according to ICE Special Agent Bradford Bybee's affidavit. Montaño ran his drug-sniffing dog around the vehicle, and the animal alerted to the presence of narcotics at "the mid-interior of the truck bed," it says.
Bybee and ICE Special Agent Kim Wong were summoned, and they found a hidden compartment containing 69 plastic bags of various colored pills. One of the pills tested positive for methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, the affidavit states.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Thomas told Hollows on Tuesday that there were 390,000 pills with an estimated street value in excess of $7 million.
Also in the compartment were three bags containing $435,000 in new, sequentially numbered $100 bills," the affidavit says.
In a sock in a suitcase in the truck's cab was $2,670 in new $100 bills, a $50 bill and a $20 bill, the affidavit says. It says the ICE agents interviewed Fox after he waived his right not to answer questions. He denied he was aware of the pills and money, and said the truck had been under his exclusive control since he entered the United States on May 12. He said he is a mechanic by trade but has been driving for Federal Towing LTD for approximately 18 months and has made about 50 trips into the United States.
Fox told the agents that he usually goes to auctions in Southern California and brings autos and boats back to British Columbia, according to the affidavit.
At that point in the interrogation, according to the affidavit, Fox's memory completely failed him. He said he does not know who owns Federal Towing, does not know who his boss is, does not remember who hired him, and does not know who signs his paychecks. At Fox's court appearance Tuesday, he was represented by Victor Sherman, a prominent criminal defense lawyer from Santa Monica. While discussing bail, Hollows remarked to Sherman that his client could not be regarded as a "mule" - someone who simply carries contraband from place to place.
Sherman replied that a mule often carries both narcotics and cash. To which the judge replied that Fox would have to be a "trusted mule. Just a regular old mule doesn't carry $400,000 around.
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1876289.html
relentless busts, it almost brings me to tears
Affidavit details $7 million ecstasy bust in Woodland
By Denny Walsh
Published: Wednesday, May. 20, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 3B
Authorities say they discovered more than $7 million worth of ecstasy and nearly half a million dollars in cash over the weekend hidden in a truck during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Woodland.
Robert James Fox, a Canadian citizen, is charged in a criminal complaint filed Monday in Sacramento federal court with possessing ecstasy for distribution, importing a controlled substance and smuggling more than $10,000 into the United States.
He made appearances Monday and Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows but has not been released. The judge told Fox's attorney that there must be substantial collateral before release on bail is considered.
Fox, 37, was northbound in a 2008 Peterbilt flatbed tow truck with a British Columbia license plates when he was pulled over Saturday by California Highway Patrol Officer Lamberto Montaño for speeding, according to the affidavit of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in support of the complaint.
While Montaño was citing Fox, the officer "observed several discrepancies under the bed of the truck that (were) indicative of … a hidden compartment," according to ICE Special Agent Bradford Bybee's affidavit. Montaño ran his drug-sniffing dog around the vehicle, and the animal alerted to the presence of narcotics at "the mid-interior of the truck bed," it says.
Bybee and ICE Special Agent Kim Wong were summoned, and they found a hidden compartment containing 69 plastic bags of various colored pills. One of the pills tested positive for methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, the affidavit states.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Thomas told Hollows on Tuesday that there were 390,000 pills with an estimated street value in excess of $7 million.
Also in the compartment were three bags containing $435,000 in new, sequentially numbered $100 bills," the affidavit says.
In a sock in a suitcase in the truck's cab was $2,670 in new $100 bills, a $50 bill and a $20 bill, the affidavit says. It says the ICE agents interviewed Fox after he waived his right not to answer questions. He denied he was aware of the pills and money, and said the truck had been under his exclusive control since he entered the United States on May 12. He said he is a mechanic by trade but has been driving for Federal Towing LTD for approximately 18 months and has made about 50 trips into the United States.
Fox told the agents that he usually goes to auctions in Southern California and brings autos and boats back to British Columbia, according to the affidavit.
At that point in the interrogation, according to the affidavit, Fox's memory completely failed him. He said he does not know who owns Federal Towing, does not know who his boss is, does not remember who hired him, and does not know who signs his paychecks. At Fox's court appearance Tuesday, he was represented by Victor Sherman, a prominent criminal defense lawyer from Santa Monica. While discussing bail, Hollows remarked to Sherman that his client could not be regarded as a "mule" - someone who simply carries contraband from place to place.
Sherman replied that a mule often carries both narcotics and cash. To which the judge replied that Fox would have to be a "trusted mule. Just a regular old mule doesn't carry $400,000 around.
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1876289.html
relentless busts, it almost brings me to tears
