Marijuana Smuggling Suspect Caught After Brief Escape Woman Allegedly Slipped Out Sheriff’S Office Window

Thu., July 13, 2000

By John Craig johnc@spokesman.com

An accused Canadian drug smuggler who escaped from federal agents Monday in Ferry County is back in custody and facing charges in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

The suspect, a young woman identified as Heather Le, was arrested Monday afternoon, and was back in custody Monday night after four hours as a fugitive. Her age and address were not immediately available.

Le was first taken into custody when Ferry County sheriff’s deputies stopped her rented Toyota 4-Runner on state Highway 21, just south of Republic, to serve a federal warrant.

Deputies found three hockey bags containing approximately 90 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle and about $8,000 under the driver’s floor mat. Officers also found $900 in Le’s purse. According to court documents, Le offered to give the deputies the marijuana and all the cash if they would let her go. They refused the deal, but Le managed to escape from four federal agents who were questioning her in the Ferry County Sheriff’s Office.

Details remain sketchy, but authorities say Le was left alone in an office with an outside window. A small woman, she locked the door and slipped out the window, authorities said.

Sheriff’s officers brought in a tracking dog, which lost Le’s scent near a church. That prompted a nearby resident to check her unlocked home, and the resident found Le hiding in a basement bedroom. Le, who was unarmed and not considered dangerous, surrendered without incident.

She was taken to Spokane, where she remains in jail awaiting a hearing on a charge that she possessed marijuana with intent to distribute.

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