RCMP say more charges have been laid following a massive cocaine seizure in New Brunswick a year ago.
Last January, officials seized more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Saint John in what they described as a “sophisticated drug-smuggling investigation.”
The cocaine, valued at $198 million, was hidden inside industrial machinery that had arrived in a marine shipping container, according to the RCMP.
RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) began their investigation in the fall of 2021 after receiving information about exported shipments originating from Central America.
That December, CBSA began tracking a marine shipping container of interest that had a final destination of Saint John. Their investigation revealed that the container’s contents were imported by a Brantford resident.
On Jan. 7, 2022, the shipping container was examined at the Port of Saint John, which led to the seizure of the cocaine.
“This represents the largest quantity of cocaine seized from a marine shipping container in Atlantic Canada in three decades,” RCMP said in a release in March.
A man from Brantford, Ont., was arrested in late January 2022 and charged with importing cocaine into Canada and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Earlier this week, police in Ontario executed search warrants in the community of Brantford and New Hamburg.
Two more men have since been charged with unlawfully importing cocaine and conspiracy to import cocaine.
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