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2 men accused of smuggling narcotics across the border using drones

The California and New York City residents were the subject of a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court Wednesday.

YOUNGSTOWN, N.Y. — Two men — one from California and one from New York City — are being accused of transporting narcotics from Canada into the United States using drones and a home they purchased in Youngstown.

A criminal complaint unsealed in federal court Wednesday alleges Yong Chen and an unnamed second defendant knowingly and unlawfully imported MDMA into the country with the intent to distribute.

The two men are facing charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of a controlled substance, narcotics conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection first caught wind of the situation in the early hours of Sept. 21, 2022, when they observed a drone leave Youngstown, N.Y. and fly across the border to On Seven Estate Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The drone landed there before returning back to its original location, which was a house at the address 4240 Wolf Run Drive. 

The drone was operating without navigation lights and had an attached package hanging from it.

Upon observing the drone land in the backyard of the home, police made entry and announced themselves. Two subjects ran away, and one was detained.

Shortly after, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department received a call from an individual requesting medical attention not far away from 4240 Wolf Run Drive. Upon arrival, they found two Asian males — Chen and the unnamed defendant — who they later learned fled the scene at the home shortly before.

After acquiring a federal search warrant, special agents entered the home. They observed it was barely furnished with only mattresses on the floor and almost no furniture. They found numerous commercial grade drones, controllers and electronics as well as cell phones, documents and items belonging to both defendants.

The drones were seized. Attached to the one that landed, authorities found a package containing 2,990.6 grams of MDMA. After analyzing the drones, they determined they had made five other cross-border flights between May 10 and Sept. 21 of that year. CBP believes the first five flights were test flights ahead of the Sept. 21 trip.

Neither defendant has ties to Western New York. The Youngstown house was most recently sold on April 21, 2022, about a month before the test flights began, to “Y&L” Beauty Nail Inc., a beauty salon located on Long Island, which Chen said he worked for.

2 On Your Side contacted the U.S. Attorney’s office for more information, but they declined to comment. Chen’s initial court appearance was Wednesday.

This is a developing story that will be updated as we learn more.

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