California man charged after allegedly trying to fly with 31 pounds of meth-soaked clothing

A California man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after allegedly trying to check in two suitcases full of methamphetamine-soaked clothing, including a cow pajama onesie, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Prosecutors have charged 31-year-old Raj Matharu with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to a Department of Justice news release. Matharu will be arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

He is free on $10,000 bond.

“Drug dealers continually devise creative ways to traffic dangerous narcotics in the pursuit of illicit profit – as alleged in the facts of this case,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “In the process, they poison communities around the world. Law enforcement is committed to the fight against drug trafficking, knowing that every seizure saves lives.”

Matharu was preparing to board a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, on November 6 when he attempted to check in two pieces of luggage, a pink suitcase and a gray suitcase, on November 6, according to court documents. Screening officers x-rayed the suitcases and pulled them for “secondary inspection” after discovering “an anomaly.”

When law enforcement officers unzipped the suitcases, they found several “white or light-colored clothing items that had dried stiff and were covered in white residue,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the Central District of California. Officials tested a sample of the residue in the field, which returned positive results for meth.

The total weight of the meth-soaked clothing was approximately 31.5 pounds.

Inside the pink suitcase, Customs and Border Protection agents found white residue on five white T-shirts, eight pairs of women’s underwear, 19 pairs of socks, two sports bras, three tank tops, two towels, a cardigan sweater, a hoodie, a fleece sweater, the onesie pajamas and two sweaters.

In the gray suitcase, officers found white residue on two towels, six pairs of socks, five boxers, seven tank tops, one pair of sweatpants, two pairs of jeans, four hoodies, one polo shirt, two button-up shirts and one pair of long pants. sleeve top.

In an affidavit, Homeland Security Investigations agent Megan Palmer wrote in part: “I believe in this case the white methamphetamine was ‘washed’ into the white clothing and left to dry.”

“Based on my training and experience,” Palmer added, “I know that over time in a room temperature or cold environment the solution would evaporate and the powdered methamphetamine would separate from the shirt to form a white residue .”

Matharu was intercepted at an LAX gate and taken into custody on the morning of November 7, according to the complaint. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life behind bars.