Heroin Smuggler Gets 14-Year Prison Sentence 2nd Pakistani Charged In Case Involving $3.8 Million Shipment

Sat., Sept. 13, 1997

By Bill Morlin billm@spokesman.com

A Pakistani national responsible for smuggling $3.8 million worth of heroin into Spokane will serve 14 years in federal prison.

Abdul Wahid was arrested on March 26, 1996, in Spokane after negotiating the sale of the heroin with a man who turned out to be an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

The seizure of 121 pounds of heroin was the biggest ever in Spokane, and even surpassed the 112-pound seizure years ago in New York that led to the movie, “The French Connection.”

DEA agents secretly tape-recorded and video-taped the drug deal in a west Spokane motel and a Spokane Valley warehouse, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Harrington.

Wahid, 37, arrived in Spokane from Pakistan a couple of days after the arrival of the heroin, hidden in a crate of inexpensive wooden necklaces made in India.

Charges now have been filed against a second Pakistani, Haji Ramzah, in the heroin-smuggling case, Harrington said.

“His current whereabouts are unknown,” the federal prosecutor said of Ramzah.

Drug agents said the white heroin, produced in Pakistan, had a potential street value of $175 million. It was packaged in kilogram bricks, wrapped in cellophane.

The drug crate was shipped to Spokane by air, through New York City.

Investigators say smaller cities are being picked as destination points for large drug shipments because of increased security at larger city airports.

Harrington said the case developed with information and an informer supplied to the DEA by the Turkish National Narcotics Police.

Turkish authorities learned that Wahid had traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, and was arranging the exportation of Pakistani heroin to the United States.

Wahid pleaded guilty last November to charges of conspiracy, aiding and assisting the distribution of heroin and two counts of unlawful use of a telephone for a drug transaction.

He has a wife and children in his homeland and told authorities he worked as a cattle rancher, making $3,000 a year.

He also claimed to be a secessionist freedom fighter in the Baluchestan region of Pakistan.

Investigators said they didn’t develop any information suggesting the drug trafficking was involved with funding the secessionist movement.

Wahid faced 168 to 210 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Whaley imposed a 168-month term at Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

, DataTimes

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