Man arrested for allegedly smuggling 4.9 lbs of ‘ice’

A Chinese national was arrested over the weekend for allegedly smuggling over four pounds of methamphetamine or “ice” through the U.S. Postal Service post office in Garapan.

Zhang Yuzhu, 49, was arrested last Saturday for allegedly trying to smuggle 4.9 lbs of “ice” through the U.S. Postal Service. He was charged with importation of contraband, illegal possession of a controlled substance, and trafficking of a controlled substance.

During his bail hearing last Monday, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph Camacho imposed a $1 million cash bail on Zhang before remanding him back to Department of Corrections custody.

Zhang was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court no later than March 25. Camacho ordered Zhang to return to court on March 30 for his preliminary hearing and set his arraignment for April 4.

According to court documents, Customs officer Franklin Sablan was doing routine inspection on a large parcel addressed to Zhang at approximately 10am on March 19. Inside the parcel, Sablan saw three wooden cases containing chinaware inside.

Upon further inspection of the wooden cases, Sablan said he noticed a squared object wrapped in duct tape under the chinaware inside the wooden case. While examining the square object wrapped in duct tape, the officer noticed white crystalline substance spilling onto the wooden case. This prompted Sablan to contact the Bureau of Contraband Enforcement. Minutes later, BCE personnel arrived at the scene and took over the investigation.

After procuring the parcel and its contents as evidence, the items were transported to the Customs Office at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport for processing and testing where it came out positive of methamphetamine

At approximately 12pm, the parcel was transferred to Zhang’s address in Garapan.

Around the same time, Customs BCE teams established surveillance operations at the U.S. Post Office in Garapan. At around 12:49pm, surveillance teams observed a blue Toyota Yaris owned by Zhang arrive at the post office. Moments later, surveillance teams observed Zhang exit the post office carrying the parcel. Members of the surveillance team then approached and secured Zhang along with the parcel and his vehicle.

In his vehicle, officers found 19 small clear plastic baggies containing white crystalline substance yielding a presumptive positive result for methamphetamine weighing at approximately 26.3 gross grams. (Kimberly B. Esmores)