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Record opium seizure from B.C. marine containers

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Dec, 2022 03:28 PM

DELTA, B.C. - What started as a probe into some oddities with shipping pallets in Vancouver has ended with a record seizure of opium by the Canada Border Services Agency.

The agency says its investigators found 247 shipping pallets loaded with almost 2,500 kilograms of opium in several shipping containers at Vancouver's port.

Nina Patel, the regional director general for the agency in the Pacific region, says the seizure in October is their largest such discovery.

She says officers discovered "anomalies" in a first examination, then followed up with a physical search to find the drugs in pallets in 19 separate marine containers.

RCMP assistant commissioner Will Ng says the seizure represents many millions of dollars' worth of illicit drugs taken off the street.

He says their investigation into those responsible for the smuggling operation is ongoing.

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