It is considered the largest seizure of cocaine ever at an airport on the prairies. And it happened this month in Winnipeg.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is reporting that on February 9th, during the examination of a flight originating outside of Canada, border officers identified two unclaimed suitcases. Upon examination of the suitcases, officers found 60 individually wrapped packages of suspected cocaine with a street value of over $9 million. The total weight of the cocaine was 74.8 kilograms.
According to CBSA, this seizure, which happened at the Winnipeg International Airport, is the largest narcotics seizure at an airport in the Prairie Region.
The narcotics were transferred to the Manitoba RCMP and there is no additional information at this time.
"Every day through the vigilance, expertise, and commitment of CBSA officers, we are combatting the smuggling of illegal narcotics into Canada and disrupting international crime networks," says Greg Valentine, Director, Intelligence and Enforcement Operations Division, Prairie Region. "Thanks to the quick thinking of officers at the Winnipeg International Airport, more than 75 kilograms of cocaine is not going to make it to Canadian streets where it could have injured or destroyed countless lives."