MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 16: Drugs seized by the National Police during the dismantling of the Sinaloa Cartel in Spain, at the Canillas Police Complex, May 16, 2024, in Madrid, Spain. The National Police have dismantled the infrastructure in Spain of the Sinaloa cartel with the seizure of 1,800 kilos of methamphetamine. In addition, the main supply point for synthetic drugs in Europe, which operated from Tenerife, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante, has been dismantled. During the press conference, the heads of the Drugs and Organized Crime Unit of the General Commissariat of the Judicial Police and of the Canary Islands and Valencian Community police headquarters presented the material seized during the operation. (Photo By Carlos Lujan/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Los Angeles, California – At Los Angeles International Airport last November, a man’s attempt to board a flight to Australia with two overstuffed suitcases ended not in international travel, but in a federal drug trafficking charge. What made the case stand out—aside from the methamphetamine hidden in his luggage—was the unusual method of concealment: a cow-print pajama onesie, among other garments, saturated with narcotics.
On Monday, 31-year-old Raj Matharu of Northridge pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The charge stems from a November 6, 2024 incident in which he tried to check two suitcases containing clothing items heavily laced with nearly 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) of meth.
According to court documents, Matharu ran into trouble at the ticket counter when an airport worker told him that his bags were too heavy to fly. Surveillance cameras captured him opening both bags and attempting to redistribute the weight—shuffling meth-drenched t-shirts and pajamas between suitcases before successfully checking them.
That luck didn’t hold. TSA’s X-ray screening flagged the bags for irregularities. When officers opened one suitcase, they found unnaturally stiff clothing and a suspicious white powder spread throughout. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine, prompting a deeper inspection. Authorities brought in a K9 unit, and Matharu was stopped just after crossing the jet bridge, moments away from boarding his Australia-bound flight.
In a search witnessed by Matharu himself, federal agents laid out 17 pieces of clothing, all dry, rigid, and reeking of chemical residue. Laboratory testing later confirmed that the clothing—six items tested in total—contained methamphetamine in quantities amounting to over a kilogram.
Court filings show that Matharu admitted to knowing he was transporting a controlled substance and that he intended to distribute it in Australia, where street prices for meth are significantly higher than in the U.S.
While there is no record of prior offenses, Matharu now faces the weight of serious federal sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer has scheduled sentencing for October 20. Matharu remains free on a $10,000 bond but faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life.
