A produce truck entering Alberta from Montana on Christmas Day turned out to be carrying way more than just essential goods, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.
CBSA on Wednesday said charges have now been laid against a 38-year-old Calgary resident after a semi-truckload of produce was referred for further inspection on Dec. 25, 2020 at the port of entry at Coutts, Alta., about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge.
While examining the produce shipment, CBSA officials said, they found 228.14 kg of methamphetamine, the street value of which was estimated at about $28.5 million.
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The truck’s driver was arrested and turned over to Alberta RCMP, who have since charged Amarpreet Singh Sandhu of Calgary with importation of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking, CBSA said.
Sandhu was released from custody Jan. 14 and is next due in Provincial Court in Lethbridge on Feb. 11.
The discovery amounts to CBSA’s largest meth seizure ever at a land border crossing anywhere in Canada, the agency said Wednesday.
The previous reported record was for about 200 kg of meth seized almost exactly a year earlier, at the Ambassador Bridge port of entry at Windsor, Ont., on Dec. 24, 2019.
“It is because of CBSA officers’ diligence while screening essential goods that this record amount of methamphetamine did not reach our streets or cause harm to our communities,” CBSA southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan district director Ben Tame said in the agency’s release Wednesday. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
