Massive Drug Bust at Canada-US Border as 187.5 Kg of Cocaine Discovered in Transport Truck: Border Officials

Canadian border officials say they have seized nearly 190 kilograms of suspected cocaine from a truck during a bust earlier this year on the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont. 

The suspected cocaine, seized in May of this year, has an estimated value of $23.4 million, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), who announced charges against the 55-year-old driver from Richmond Hill, Ont.

CBSA says officers stopped the commercial truck as it was entering Canada from the United States, after which a second examination turned up five garbage bags full of 161 bricks of what they believe to be cocaine. 

“Over the past few years, there has been an increase in guns, fentanyl, meth and cocaine seizures coming from the U.S.,” CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy explained in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times. “Canada and the U.S. count on each other to share information, identify and protect against threats. By ensuring timely, effective intelligence sharing and cross-border cooperation, Canada and the U.S. can better track, disrupt, and dismantle the criminal networks that operate across borders and harm our communities.”

Specifically, Purdy said that between 2020 and 2024, the total amount of cocaine seized from the United States jumped by almost 294 percent and meth by 205 percent, and from 2021 to 2024 the amount of fentanyl apprehended coming from the United States to Canada increased by over 1,600 percent (with no fentanyl seized in 2020).

Last month, border officials discovered 161 bricks of suspected cocaine at the Blue Water Bridge port in Point Edward, Ont., for which a 27-year-old Brampton man was arrested and charged. 

In November 2024, CBSA officers in B.C. seized 246 kilograms of suspected cocaine in three busts at the Pacific Highway Commercial port of entry and the Aldergrove Commercial point of entry. 

From Jan. 1, 2025 to July 10, 2025, Purdy says CBSA has seized 1,164 kilograms of cocaine from the United States, (as compared to compared to 514 kilograms from all other countries combined), 61 kilograms of methamphetamine from the United States (compared to 473 kilograms from all other countries combined) and 2.3 kilograms of fentanyl in export seizures, inclusive of 0.109 kilograms of fentanyl from the United States.

Purdy says that last year the CBSA seized 4,589 kilograms of cocaine, 2,172 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 4.94 kilograms of fentanyl.

Purdy pointed to the Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, as legislation that will improve CBSA’s ability to crack down on transnational crime and drug smuggling. The act, introduced into Parliament early last month, is currently in the legislative process and increases cross-border information sharing as well as tightens border security.

“The Strong Borders Act represents the next big step that will further strengthen our border security,” Purdy said. “It will keep Canadians safe by ensuring 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.”