17-year sentence after $7.8 million of ‘party drugs’ smuggled into Eastern WA

The driver of a minivan carrying $7.8 million worth of illegal drugs in a remote wildland area of Eastern Washington near the Canadian border has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.

U.S. Judge Thomas Rice on Wednesday sentenced Jaskaran Singh for possessing with intent to distribute the drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly.

The Eastern Washington District U.S. Attorney’s Office called it one of the largest ever drug seizures in Eastern Washington when a jury in Spokane found Singh guilty in March.

Singh, 31, of Punjab, India, was in the United States after successfully seeking asylum. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says he faces removal from the United States after completing his prison term.

On Thursday Singh notified the district federal court that he planned to file an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In September 2022, the U.S. Border Patrol was told by the owner of property just south of the Canadian border that they had found vehicle tracks on their land.

The only vehicle access to the area where the tire tracks were spotted was on Fourth of July Creek Road, a dirt road that dead ends in the mountains before reaching the Canadian border.

Agents set up motion sensor cameras on undeveloped land about one half mile west of the Danville, Wash., port of entry, which activated the night of April 29, 2023.

Three people carrying backpacks and a suitcase could be seen walking south from the border by officials at the Curlew Border Patrol Station, according to a court document.

About 15 minutes later, agents stopped a rented Honda Odyssey on Fourth of July Creek Road heading away from the border. The driver was Singh, who had a U.S. Employment Authorization Card and a California commercial driver’s license.

Singh’s phone had messages with information on where he should go, when he should arrive and to “make sure there is no car behind you” and “leave the back hood open.”

Inside the car were backpacks and suitcases holding baggies of methamphetamine and molly weighing 174 pounds.

Other suspects fled into Canada

At trial the jury heard that the three people seen on the motion sensor camera had carried the drugs in backpacks and the suitcase over about 300 yards of rugged land from the Canadian border to where Singh had parked the van.

Agents were not able to apprehend the three people who had been carrying the backpacks and suitcases before the three headed back over the Canadian border, according to court documents.

“We aggressively investigate traffickers like Mr. Singh who, out of greed, smuggle dangerous drugs into the United States from Canada or anywhere else,” said David Reames, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division. “This lengthy sentence holds Mr. Singh accountable and stands as a warning to others that we will not tolerate drug traffickers abusing our free society.”

Molly, formally known as 3-4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, acts as both a stimulant and hallucinogen, producing an energizing effect, distortions in time and perception, and enhanced enjoyment of tactile experiences.

Adolescents and young adults use it to reduce inhibitions and to promote euphoria, feelings of closeness and sexuality, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Pete Serrano, the former Pasco mayor who was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern Washington District earlier this month, said the case is significant, both because the significant quantity of drugs that were seized and the cooperation with federal partners at the northern border.

The case was investigated by the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations, in addition to the Border Patrol. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alison Gregoire and Dan Fruchter.