Canadian man sentenced after CBP seizes nearly $65 million of meth off boat in Salish Sea

BELLINGHAM — A Canadian man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to smuggle nearly $65 million worth of methamphetamine from the U.S. into Canada using an 18-foot speedboat through the Salish Sea.

Ted Karl Faupel, 51 of Alberta, was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Seattle after he was found May 25 in an 18-foot Bayliner Capri in the San Juan Islands, according to a news release Tuesday, Oct. 11, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

Faupel was stopped and arrested after officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, Air and Marine spotted his boat riding low in the water near Stuart Island heading toward Canada, according to the release.

The boat, which had Canadian registration numbers, was taken to the U.S. Coast Guard Station Bellingham, where a drug dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, the release states.

Law enforcement seized 28 locked duffle bags containing 539 packages of pure methamphetamine, the release states, adding that Faupel also had a loaded firearm on board. All told, 1,432 pounds of methamphetamine was seized.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart noted at Tuesday’s sentencing that gang paraphernalia was found on the boat, saying, “You don’t start transporting drugs for (a violent street gang) if you fear for your family…. This is a very dangerous group and (Faupel) chose to gamble with his family’s safety.”

The price of methamphetamine can be as much as $100 per gram, according to recovered.org, meaning the 1,432 pounds seized could be worth as much as $64.9 million.