The Canada Border Services Agency last month discovered and seized a shipment of suspected cocaine worth an estimated $3.5 million in a truck crossing the U.S. border from Whatcom County.
On March 18, a commercial driver entered Canada in a semi truck carrying personal care products, according to a release Thursday, April 15, from the Canada Services Agency. The truck reportedly crossed at one of the five Pacific Highway District border crossings from Whatcom County to British Columbia.
During a secondary examination, border services officers used wide-range detection tools to inspect the shipment and noticed anomalies, according to the release.
Border Services officers unloaded the trailer and found 64 individually wrapped, brick-shaped packages, the release states. Officers tested the substance within the packages and found they were suspected to contain cocaine.
“The discovery of 64 bricks of suspected cocaine is the direct result of diligent work by our border services officers,” Canada Border Services Agency Pacific Highway District Director Yvette Lebrun said in the release. “They kept Canadians safe by preventing these drugs from entering our communities.”
The 64 bricks weighed approximately 160 pounds, according to the weight, according to the release. and were worth an estimated $3.5 million.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Federal Serious and Organized Crime took custody of the driver and the drugs.
Due to security reasons, Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson Kristine Wu told The Bellingham Herald that the specific border crossing that the seizure was made could not be released. She also said that the investigation is ongoing, so the nationality of the driver could not be released, but she said the driver was coming into Canada from California.