Santa Monica police seize 40 pounds of ecstasy tablets

12:39 PM | March 17, 2009

The Santa Monica Police Department and agents for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have seized 40 pounds of the drug known as ecstasy. The drugs seized have a street value of more than $1 million.

The bust happened about 5:15 p.m. Sunday when narcotics investigators and agents from an LAX-ICE task force saw a suspicious person sitting in a parked car near the intersection of Lincoln Boulevard and Broadway Avenue. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of about 51,000 tablets of the hallucinogenic drug.

The suspect was identified as Ramandeep Singh Sandhu, 25, a resident of Fremont, Calif. Santa Monica Police Sgt. Robert Almada said the suspect appears to be a Canadian national. After being held in Santa Monica jail, he was transferred Monday into federal custody. He is expected to be charged with narcotics trafficking.

-- Martha Groves

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