BLAINE - For the third time in three weeks, federal agents thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large amount of Ecstasy into the United States from Canada.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents allegedly found 69 pounds of the drug, worth more than $1 million, in a Canadian man's pickup at the Blaine truck crossing on Monday, April 6.

In the past two weeks, Border Patrol agents thwarted two attempts to smuggle an estimated total of $5 million of the drug into eastern Whatcom County. The smugglers fled to back to Canada each time.

On Monday afternoon, Paul Tremblay, 53, of Surrey, B.C., drove to the Blaine truck crossing and told agents he was going on a five-day vacation to Las Vegas, according to Customs and Border Protection Chief Tom Schreiber.

Agents examined his truck and determined that his spare tire was flat and contained large packets. They searched the tire and allegedly found 30 packets containing more than 107,000 Ecstasy pills, according to Schreiber.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/862568.html