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Buffalo, N.Y. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection today announced the seizure of approximately 33 pounds of methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), better known as the club-drug ecstasy. The seizure resulted in the arrest of a Canadian citizen.

On January 30, CBP officers encountered Leon Johnson, a 41-year-old Canadian citizen from Brampton, Ontario, as he applied for admission into the United States at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo, N.Y. Johnson was the operator of a commercial truck and presented a manifest and invoice for a commercial shipment of blueberries destined to Florida. Johnson was referred to CBP for a secondary agriculture exam.

During the course of the inspection, CBP officers employed gamma-ray technology to generate a high-resolution image of the conveyance’s contents which revealed an anomaly in the roof of the sleeper cab of the truck. A physical exam of the area in question revealed 10 vacuum-sealed bags of various colored tablets. The bags were found to contain approximately 48,400 tablets of ecstasy.

"The ecstasy seized by CBP has a street value of approximately $1 million," said James T. Engleman, CBP director of Field Operations for the Buffalo Field Office. "CBP's non-intrusive inspection technology assists our officers in preventing terrorist weapons and contraband, including illegal drugs from entering our country while facilitating the orderly flow of legitimate trade and travel."

Johnson was arrested on federal charges of importation and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was turned over to agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

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.