Law enforcement officials say they seized over 63 kilograms of suspected cocaine from a commercial truck hauling corn into Canada at the Emerson port of entry on the Manitoba-North Dakota border.
A team of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) dogs found the drugs in a modified compartment in the trailer carrying corn on July 14, according to a report from CBC, quoting CBSA director Rossel Lapointe at a Thursday morning news conference in Winnipeg, Man.
“We had to offload the commercial product that was covering the concealed compartment, and then using…tools, detection technology, we were able to manually open the compartment ourselves,” said Lapointe.
The street value of the drugs is estimated at C$6 million — the largest narcotics seizure at any Manitoba port of entry in the last five years.
The 31-year old driver — Varinder Kaushik of Winnipeg — was arrested by the CBSA, and charged by RCMP with importing a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking. He appeared in a Winnipeg Federal Court on July 19 and was released on conditions.
The CBSA says anyone with information about suspicious cross-border activity is encouraged to call the CBSA Border Watch Toll-free Line at 1-888-502-9060 or submit a tip online.
