A North Vancouver woman faces charges in U.S. court of drug possession with intent to distribute after authorities seized more than 100,000 N-benzylpiperazine (BZP) pills shaped like Homer Simpson and Transformers characters.

Court records show that on June 26 Krysta Edwards was stopped by customs officers at the Pacific Highway Port of Entry in Blaine, where investigators found the pills stashed in a secret compartment of the Ford Explorer she was driving.

After the inspection, border and security agents didn't tell Edwards they had found the pills, but followed her to a mall in Bellingham where she met with Nen Cruces – a U.S. citizen identified in court documents as her boyfriend.

After following the pair to a storage unit on Mcleod Road in Bellingham drug agents watched Edwards and Cruces park the Explorer and leave in another vehicle – a Suzuki Areo – to visit the a grocery store and a bowling alley.

A few hours later, the pair returned to the storage unit where Cruces removed inside speaker boxes from the Areo. When Cruces went into the unit, agents took Edwards into custody. They entered the unit to find Cruces surrounded by heat-sealed bags containing pills like the ones discovered in Edwards' car, said court records.

A representative from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Emily Langlie, said she could not speak to whether the unit contained more pills in addition to the stash Edwards allegedly smuggled over the border.

In interviews following their arrests Edwards said Cruces "flipped out" and claimed "that's not right," when he saw the secret compartments in the Explorer, according to a special agent.

According to court records Edwards knew her vehicle was carrying contraband and thought she had been transporting guns and booze until Cruces told her the hidden compartments held drugs he called "vitamins."

Cruces told the investigators "I know, I'm f*cked. My entire career in the military is f*cked."

Officers tested the pills and found they tested presumptively positive for N-benzylpiperazine.

Thomas Schreiber, spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, estimates the street value of the pills at $10 per tablet, placing the seized load at more than $1 million. Schreiber said he couldn't estimate the cost of producing the drug but said, "certainly there's a large profit there."

He said BZP is a strong stimulant that was originally produced as a worming treatment for cattle with parasites.

"This is a club drug for a rave party or something like that," he said, adding that the drug is often produced with shapes and logos to look like candy.

Asked if these drugs could be marketed to youth because they reference popular cartoon characters, Schreiber said, "What is your target audience or market when you put something in a candy or shapes like that? Who are you selling it to?"

Edwards was released on bail June 29. She is called to a preliminary hearing next week and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Attorney's Office spokesperson Langlie said the terms of Edwards' release stipulate she must remain in B.C. or Washington and surrender her passport and travel documents.

kmcmanus@northshoreoutlook.com