An attempted drug smuggling of over 800 pounds of cocaine was thwarted this month in New York, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Canadian man Ahmed El Kady, 37, was arrested on charges including possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York said in a news release.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum term of life and a $10,000,000 fine, the attorney’s office said.

According to a criminal complaint, El Kady entered the U.S. on August 7 at the Ambassador Bridge Port of Entry in Detroit, Michigan. He was driving a commercial truck without a commercial trailer attached. He told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers he was picking up a trailer in Detroit. 

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Investigators trailed driver for days to see what he was up to

Investigators watched him and his vehicle as he went to the TA Travel Center in Dexter, Michigan. Over the next two days, he made an “exchange” with the drivers of two other commercial trucks, the office said. 

Investigators kept watching El Kady, who traveled to Ohio before returning to Dexter, Michigan and making another exchange with the driver of a third commercial truck. He then went to Buffalo, New York, arriving on August 9. There, he spent the night at a local truck stop.

On August 10, El Kady’s wife Maja Tambur showed up at the truck stop, according to the attorney’s office. The pair got into her vehicle and traveled to Niagara Falls, where they made multiple stops throughout the area and drove “evasively in a manner consistent with individuals conducting counter surveillance,” the attorney’s office said. 

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El Kady and his wife then tried to get back to the truck he was originally driving and a federal search warrant was executed. Authorities found about 850 pounds (386 kilograms) of cocaine. El Kady was then arrested.

El Kady appeared before the U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy Friday afternoon and had a detention hearing Monday morning.

The attorney’s office said the investigation included Homeland Security Investigations, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency and a slew of other agencies.

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