A woman is facing federal charges after security officers discovered more than a dozen methamphetamine-soaked shirts in her luggage at LAX in nearly November.
According to court documents from the United States District Court, Myah Saakwa-Mante, a student from the United Kingdom, was on her way to Australia when she stopped in LA for two days.
Prosecutors say her luggage was flagged because of abnormalities spotted by an X-ray machine. Officers at Los Angeles International Airport opened the bag and found the shirts “caked with methamphetamine,” the documents said.
They say the shirts were “hidden under the inner lining of the suitcase” and that a test revealed positive results for meth. In total, they believe there were several pounds of the drug in the shirts.
“The moisture caused the suspected methamphetamine to become caked in the t-shirts and could not be separated,” the documents said.
In addition, officers also said they noticed a white powder residue both inside the suitcase and visible on their black gloves they wore while searching the contents of the luggage.
Officers say the shirts were purchased at a Target store using Apple Pay, which Saakwa-Mante confirmed and even had receipts.
“When asked about the white powder on the T-shirts, she claimed no knowledge of it,” the documents said.
Special Agent Omar Yasin of the United States Homeland Security Investigation, who filed the affidavit, believes that “the methamphetamine was originally in powder form and that the powder was then “washed” with a solvent and then mixed/fused in the t- shirts.”
Saakwa-Mante said the reason for her trip was to meet her boyfriend for the first time.
She remains in federal custody and faces one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
