2 suspects, $1m in drug netted in Ecstasy bust

MASSENA — A suspect in an Ontario attempted-murder case faces unrelated federal drug charges in Massena for possessing about $1 million in Ecstasy, federal authorities said.

U.S. Border Patrol agents on Sunday seized about 20 pounds of illegal MDMA pills, better known as Ecstasy, hidden in several bags in a pickup truck, federal court records show. The bags contained about 36,000 Ecstasy pills. Each pill has a street value of about $30.

Roohid Hakimi, 26, Brampton, Ontario, and Cheyenne R. Anderson, 20, Hogansburg, face charges of possessing Ecstasy, court records show.

Border Patrol agents tailed Mr. Hakimi’s rental car on Route 37 coming from the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, court papers show.

He drove to Walmart and spent about four hours inside the store before returning to his car. Some of the time he spent sitting at the Subway restaurant and chatting on his cellphone, but he was not eating.

Mr. Hakimi then drove behind the store and met up with Ms. Anderson, who was driving a pickup. The Ecstasy pills were found in the pickup after being detected by a K-9 drug dog, court papers say. The destination for the Ecstasy pills was not known.

Both were arraigned Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Kudrle in Plattsburgh and sent to federal custody without bail.

Detention hearings for both suspects will be held Thursday in Plattsburgh, court officials said.

Mr. Hakimi is a suspect in the shooting of a 28-year-old man Jan. 8 at a Vaughan, Ontario, restaurant.

The unidentified man suffered several gunshot wounds but is recovering, York regional police said.

In November, Ms. Anderson was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct for reportedly running out in front of a car on Elm Street in the village of Potsdam, causing the driver to stop abruptly, and then shattering a window on the car when she tossed a rock through it, police said. That case is pending