121 Pounds Of Heroin Seized In Spokane Federal Agents Arrest Pakistani Man In Sting That Nets Nearly $175 Million Worth Of The Drug

Undercover agents sprang a well-laid trap on an international heroin supplier Tuesday, arresting him in Spokane and seizing 121 pounds of the drug.

Authorities said the high-grade heroin has a street value of nearly $175 million and could be turned into tens of thousands of doses.

That’s enough to supply the entire Pacific Northwest heroin market for several months, they said.

“We’re up against criminals that know no boundaries,” George Cazenavette of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said at a Wednesday news conference. “They have unlimited resources, and they follow no rule book.”

The heroin seizure is the biggest ever in Spokane and topped the 112 pounds recovered in a New York City bust that inspired the movie, “The French Connection.”

Federal agents arrested Abdul Wahid, 36, about 8 p.m. Tuesday in Spokane, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks, who is prosecuting the case.

Wahid was in the city to negotiate the sale of the heroin to DEA agents posing as drug distributors.

Some negotiations took place in Room 103 at the Hampton Inn Hotel, 2010 S. Assembly, where Wahid stayed from Friday until his arrest.

Hicks said Wahid was not arrested at the hotel, but the federal prosecutor refused to release further details, saying he didn’t want to jeopardize the case.

Wahid, of Karachi, Pakistan, faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin, which carries a recommended sentence of between 10 years and life in prison.

The defendant was being held Wednesday in the Spokane County Jail, with no bail allowed.

Marshals escorted Wahid into U.S. District Court in handcuffs Wednesday. He looked haggard, often rubbing his eyes as he waited for the proceedings to begin.

Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno postponed his arraignment until 9 a.m. today so authorities could bring in an interpreter for Wahid, who speaks only broken English.

According to court documents, Wahid’s arrest culminated an investigation that spanned 10 months and two continents.

It began last May in Istanbul, Turkey, when a DEA informer began establishing relationships with drug suppliers in Turkey and Pakistan looking to break into the U.S. drug market.

In October, the informer arranged for undercover federal agents to buy large amounts of heroin from a Pakistani wholesaler for whom Wahid works, according to court documents.

The agents used their Riverside Avenue office building in Spokane as a front, having the supplier send letters and faxes there. They also set up a phony business in the Spokane Valley for the same purpose.

During negotiations, the supplier and the agents agreed Spokane would be the place where the drugs and money changed hands, Cazenavette said.

DEA agents wanted a place where local law enforcement agencies had the resources and knowledge to give them support, he said, and the Spokane Regional Drug Task Force provided that.

The task force includes officials from the city police, sheriff’s department, Washington State Patrol, FBI and DEA.

As for the suppliers, they wanted the deal to go down in a city where they thought there was a minimal law enforcement presence, Cazenavette said.

It’s becoming harder and harder for suppliers to move large shipments into cities like New York and Los Angeles, he said.

“They’re looking for an area to come into where they feel relatively secure.”

According to court documents, Wahid’s employers put the heroin on a plane to America last week even though the price hadn’t been negotiated.

Agents, who knew what flight the drugs were on, intercepted the heroin at New York’s JFK airport and brought it to Spokane themselves.

The 55 one-kilogram bags of high-quality heroin were packed into eight boxes and covered by inexpensive wooden necklaces made in India, Cazenavette said.

Agents then awaited the arrival of Wahid, who was to complete the sale, court documents said.

Wahid negotiated a price of nearly $4 million for the drugs during talks with agents Saturday.

Authorities wouldn’t say what happened between then and his arrest on Tuesday.

Cazenavette said Wednesday his office expects to make more arrests in the case but wouldn’t say who else is being targeted.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Heroin haul among biggest The 121 pounds of heroin seized Tuesday by undercover agents in Spokane would be worth about $175 million peddled on the streets. But there have been bigger heroin busts: The biggest in U.S. history was in 1991, when nearly 1,200 pounds were seized in San Francisco. Authorities guessed the load was worth $3 billion. In 1989, New York agents intercepted an 800-pound shipment worth more than $1 billion. In 1985, agents in Seattle seized 215 pounds packed inside ice buckets.