A 70-year-old Surrey, B.C., man whose lawyer says he was looking for "a little excitement" and had always dreamed of being financially successful has been sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy.
Amar Dutt drew increased scrutiny from a border inspector at Blaine last May when he told the inspector he was crossing into the United States from Canada to look for "healing crystals."
A drug dog alerted to the gas tank of Dutt's minivan, where inspectors found more than 40,000 Ecstasy pills in plastic bags, floating in the gas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated the street value at about $500,000.
Dutt told U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly on Thursday that he felt "very bad," adding "the thing that hurts me the most is that I have betrayed my friend (the United States)." His lawyer told the court Dutt had no criminal history but three years ago met someone who got him involved in the smuggling scheme.
