Scuba Diver Charged With Smuggling Drugs Across St. Clair River From Canada

A 24-year-old Windsor man was charged Wednesday in Marine City's district court for smuggling marijuana into the United States by scuba diving across the St. Clair River, according to police. 

Jesse James Thomas Zunti is charged with one count of controlled substance, deliver/manufacture marijuana--a crime punishable up to four years imprisonment upon conviction, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office stated. 

A citizen spotted Zunti early Monday morning swimming in full scuba gear across the St. Clair River from Canada to Marine City. That person contacted the St. Clair County Central Dispatch, which alerted U.S. Border Patrol, the Sheriff's Office said.  

Border Patrol agents apprehended Zunti when he reached the Michigan shore. They found a watertight PVC pipe with more than eight pounds of marijuana tied to a seawall ladder, the Sheriff's Office stated. 

He was turned over to the St. Clair County Drug Task Force and is being lodged in St. Clair County Intervention and Detention Center on a $100,000 cash/surety bond.  

His preliminary exam is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 4 before Judge Michael Hulewicz in Marine City District Court.