DETROIT — Ahmed El Kady, 37, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has been arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan E. Leydecker, who is handling the case, stated in a news release that El Kady entered the United States on Aug. 7 at the Ambassador Bridge Port of Entry in Detroit while driving a commercial truck without a trailer attached.
El Kady advised Customs and Border Protection officers that he was picking up a trailer in Detroit.
Investigators surveilled El Kady and followed him to the TA Travel Center in Dexter, Michigan, where, over the next two days, he appeared to make some sort of exchange with the drivers of two other commercial trucks.
Investigators continued to surveil El Kady as he traveled to Ohio before returning to Dexter and making another exchange with the driver of a third commercial truck. El Kady then traveled to Buffalo, New York, arriving on evening of Aug. 9 and spending the night at local truck stop.
On Aug. 10, in the early afternoon, El Kady’s wife, Maja Tambur, arrived at the truck stop.
El Kady and Tambur got into Tambur’s vehicle, traveling to Niagara Falls, where they made frequent stops throughout the area and were observed “driving evasively in a manner consistent with individuals conducting counter surveillance,” the news release stated.
After their attempts to lose investigators from their surveillance, El Kady and Tambur attempted to return to the truck stop. A federal search warrant was executed on the rig, during which approximately 386 kilograms of suspected cocaine were seized. El Kady was taken into custody.
El Kady made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and is being held pending a detention hearing.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
