Canadian border officers in Quebec have confiscated 142 kilograms of cocaine worth $3.5 million after drugs were found in rail containers filled with new vehicles from Mexico, officials said.
The cocaine was discovered by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers in Montreal after the agency received a call from the Canadian National (CN) Railway police last week, the CBSA said in a March 25 press release.
The officers were called to the CN Taschereau Yard to inspect a bonded rail container that had originated in Mexico and travelled into Canada on March 19 through the United States. The inspection of the container prompted further searches of other containers, leading officers to discover 119 bricks of cocaine concealed beneath the carpet of the vehicles, the agency said.
The drugs were then sent to the CBSA lab where they were formally identified as cocaine, the agency said.
The seizure was conducted in collaboration with the Montreal police, which established the search perimeter and accompanied the bricks during their transport to the Sûreté du Québec for additional investigation, the border agency said.
String of Seizures
There have been other major shipments of cocaine intercepted by the CBSA this month.
Ontario officers seized more than $2 million worth of cocaine being shipped across the U.S. border in a tractor trailer late last month at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry the province shares with Michigan. The search of another commercial vehicle a week later resulted in the confiscation of $9 million of cocaine.
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In southern Alberta, officers at the Coutts border crossing seized 108 kilograms of cocaine from a commercial transport vehicle entering Canada from Sweetgrass, Montana.
The border agency said although a Canadian was driving the vehicle, the load originated from the United States.
Coutts border officers also confiscated nearly $3 million worth of methamphetamine and cocaine destined for Canada during two separate incidents in December and January.
Border agents made the first seizure on Christmas Eve 2024 after finding 186 kilograms of methamphetamine valued at roughly $1.86 million hidden in a commercial truck.
The second seizure was executed on Jan. 18 when officers discovered two cardboard boxes in a truck trailer containing multiple bricks of cocaine weighing 42 kilograms. The street value of the drugs was estimated at more than $1 million.
Coutts border officers also discovered 189 kilograms of cocaine in a commercial truck in November with an approximate value of $2 million.
The United States has launched a trade war against Canada, partly in response to cross-border drug trafficking issues. U.S. President Donald Trump has been critical of Canada’s border security, saying this has led to an influx of fentanyl into the United States and has slapped 25 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods as a result.
White House senior counsellor Peter Navarro has said the action was not meant to start a trade war but to fight “a drug war.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a January press release that less than 0.2 percent of fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection comes from Canada.
