Canadian Man Arrested In WNY With 850 Pounds Of Cocaine

A Canadian man was busted trying to bring 850 pounds of cocaine into Western New York. He is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that the 37-year-old man was arrested on Friday August 11, 2023.

Ahmed El Kady of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was charged with possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine.

850 Pounds could easily be worth multi-millions. A year ago CBP officers in Cincinnati, Ohio seized 14 Pounds of Cocaine Worth over $700K ($50,000 per pound). Using those figures, that would make this seizure worth approximately $42 million.

According to the criminal complaint, on August 7, El Kady entered the United States via the Ambassador Bridge Port of Entry in Detroit, Michigan. He was driving a commercial truck with no commercial trailer attached. When he crossed the border he told the Customs and Border Protection officer that he was picking up a trailer in Detroit. He was then placed under surveillance without his knowledge. Investigators witnessed his travel to the TA Travel Center in Dexter, Michigan. He spent two days at that location, allegedly making an exchange with drivers of two other commercial trucks. Following that interaction investigators surveilled him traveling into Ohio before returning to Dexter. In Dexter, he made another exchange with another (different) driver of a third commercial truck. From Dexter, he drove tp Buffalo on the evening of August 9. He spent the night at local truck stop.

El Kady’s wife Maja Tambur joined him at the truck stop on August 10. They both got into the vehicle she was driving and traveled to Niagara Falls. They made frequent stops and allegedly were trying to use evasive maneuvers. After trying to lose the investigators they returned to the truck stop to the vehicle El Kady was driving. That is when agents executed a federal search warrant. They seized approximately 386 kilograms of cocaine, which is around 850 pounds. El Kady was taken into custody. His next hearing will be held on Monday, August 14, at 11 am.

Multiple law enforcement agencies - Special Agent-in Charge Matthew Scarpino, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Customs and Border Protection, CBP Air and Marine Unit, U.S. Border Patrol, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, the Buffalo Police Department, the North Tonawanda Police Department, the Cheektowaga Police Department, the Ontario Provincial Police, Peel Police, and Toronto Police Services - were involved in or assisted with the investigation.

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These Are The Top 5 Drugs Busted in New York State [List]

Drugs are a huge problem all over the United States, including here in New York. As the authorities continue to try to take drugs off the streets, more drugs come into our state to replace them. That's not to say the authorities are not working hard to bust drug traffickers. In New York, 17,411,808 grams of narcotics (cocaine, marijuana, heroin, fentanyl, MDA/MDMA/MDE, methamphetamine, and oxycodone) have been intercepted, with a total street value of $289,230,651. That's a lot of drugs that won't make it into the hands of addicts. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency's New York Field Office, these are the top 5 drugs intercepted in 2021, so far. The ranking is based on the street value of the drugs, not the weight of the drugs. While marijuana has the most "weight" busted, it doesn't have the highest dollar value.