Police find clothes caked with meth, including pajama cow onesie, in suitcases at LAX
Clothes found caked with methamphetamine inside suitcases at LAX (Credit: California Department of Justice)
LOS ANGELES - Police arrested a Northridge man at LAX earlier this month after they allegedly found clothes — including a pajama cow onesie — covered in meth inside his two checked suitcases.
Raj Matharu tried to fly from LAX to Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 6, according to the Department of Justice. Before heading to his gate, Matharu checked two suitcases.
When security officers X-rayed the suitcases, they said they found some abnormalities about the clothes, and decided to investigate further. When they opened the suitcases up, they found more than a dozen pieces of clothing, all board-stiff and covered in a white substance.
Police tested the white substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine. All told, officers were able to extract more than one kilogram of meth from the altered clothing.
Officials took Matharu into custody just before he got on the plane to Sydney.
"Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit – as alleged in the facts of this case," United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a press release. "In the process, they are poisoning communities throughout the world. Law enforcement is committed to fighting drug trafficking, knowing that every seizure saves lives."
Matharu is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 2. He could face 10 years to life in prison.