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Canadian border authorities say they seized 29 kilograms of methamphetamine in July after searching the luggage of a passenger headed to Hong Kong at the Vancouver International Airport.
According to an Aug. 5 release from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the methamphetamine was discovered hidden in gift-wrapped packages in two suitcases and led to the RCMP arresting the suspect, a 25-year-old Chinese citizen named Shiyu Deng.
There was enough of the illicit drug to supply 150,000 individual doses, according to the CBSA, who noted that Deng has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession for the purpose of exporting, and exporting a controlled substance.
Deng’s next court appearance will be on Aug. 6, and the CBSA notes “the investigation is ongoing.”
The agency says that last year it seized 2,172 kilograms of meth, as well as 4.9 kilograms of fentanyl and 4,589 kilograms of cocaine.
In terms of law enforcement busts of meth labs and meth trafficking, in January of last year, CBSA made the biggest illegal drug bust in the history of the Prairies, intercepting 406 kilograms of methamphetamine from a commercial truck at the Boissevain port of entry in Manitoba, worth an estimated $50 million.
This was followed in October by RCMP busting a major drug lab with assets in Falkland, B.C., Surrey, B.C., and Vancouver, in which they seized 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 54 kilograms of fentanyl, large amounts of precursor chemicals, weapons, and cash.
In more recent busts, the CBSA seized 148 kilograms of methamphetamine by March of this year at the Vancouver airport, from people trying to ship drugs to Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, including narcotics “infused” into clothing and hidden in vacuum sealed bags of coffee.
In June of this year, the CBSA seized two suitcases with 30 kilograms of methamphetamines in them bound for Narita, Japan, and arrested the suspect who owned the suitcases.
In a July 22 statement to The Epoch Times, CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said that Canada’s Bill C-2 (the Strong Borders Act), which is currently in the legislative process, will further strengthen the border agency’s ability to stop transnational crime and catch drug traffickers.
According to Purdy, the act “represents the next big step that will further strengthen our border security” and will ensure “law enforcement has the right tools to keep our borders secure, combat transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl, and crack down on money laundering, while protecting Canadians’ privacy and Charter rights.”
