see also: in February 2007 News Releases:   Border Officers Respond To Medical Emergency   Federal Authorities Seize Narcotics Valued at More Than $15 Million in Caribbean   Spring Breakers: Get Your Passports Now   CBP Seizes 403 Pounds of Undeclared Cheese, Two Vehicles at Colombia-Solidarity Bridge   U.S.-Canada Trusted Air Traveler Program Expands   CBP Border Patrol Agents Rescue 56 Aliens from Truck   ACE Mandated for E-manifest Filing at Border Ports in Michigan and New York ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Niagra Falls, New York - U.S. Customs and Border Protection today announced the seizure of over 21,000 tablets of methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), better known by the street name "Ecstasy," over the holiday weekend. The seizure also resulted in a federal arrest in the smuggling attempt.

On Friday, February 16, a 20 year-old Canadian citizen (name withheld for investigative purposes) from London, Ontario applied for admission into the United States at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, NY. The subject advised CBP officers that she was enroute to Niagara Falls to visit her boyfriend. Additional questioning raised the suspicion of CBP officers, and the subject was referred for a secondary enforcement exam.

During the inspection of the subject's vehicle, CBP officers discovered that the door panels had been tampered with. When CBP officers removed the door panels, they discovered six vacuum-sealed bags of tablets. The bags were found to contain approximately 21,000 tablets with later field-tested positive for the presence of MDMA.

"The ecstasy seized over the holiday weekend has a street value of approximately $420,000" stated Kevin Corsaro, CBP Public Affairs Officer for the Buffalo Field Office.

The subject was arrested on federal charges of importation and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, and turned over to agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's office.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.