Border officers seized 50 kilograms of suspected cocaine in a commercial truck attempting to enter Canada from the U.S. and arrested the driver.
Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) officers intercepted the shipment — with a potential street value of C$4 million — on Nov. 18 at the Point Edward border crossing in southwest Ontario, near Michigan. The CBSA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced the seizure on Nov. 28.
CBSA officers discovered the suspected cocaine after noticing inconsistent weights of boxes in the commercial truck’s shipment. Further inspection revealed 50 bricks of suspected cocaine, each weighing 1 kilogram.
Authorities arrested the trucker, Guo Bing Zhao, 52, and charged him with importation of a controlled substance and possession for the purposes of trafficking. He is slated for a bail hearing on Dec. 12.
The RCMP said the investigation was ongoing, and the suspected cocaine is undergoing lab analysis.
While authorities did not provide an estimated street value of the suspected cocaine, data from the 2019 Global Drug Survey suggests it could be worth more than C$4 million (US$3 million).
Canada has the second-highest level of reported cocaine use worldwide, trying with England, Italy, Brazil, Portugal and Denmark, according to the survey.
