Authorities seized 189 kilograms, $2 million worth, of cocaine at the Coutts, Alberta border crossing on November 13.
The bust resulted from a joint operation between the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the RCMP through the Integrated Border Enforcement Team, and the Calgary Police Service.
The cocaine was found hidden inside a commercial truck attempting to enter Canada.
“In cooperation with our law enforcement partners, the RCMP and Calgary police, this significant seizure serves as another example of how Canada’s borders are being secured and drugs are kept off our streets,” said the CBSA in a statement Monday, reported Postmedia.
The CBSA and various law enforcement agencies like the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) frequently intercept drug shipments, but specific annual totals for U.S. to Alberta routes are unpublished.
Another bust in January 2024 led to the seizure of drugs with a wholesale value between $16 million and $28 million, involving cross-border activities from the U.S. to Canada, including Alberta.
News of the Coutts operation comes weeks after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a new program to better protect the province's nearly 300 km border with the U.S.
Dozens of Alberta Sheriffs are being deployed, along with drones and drug-sniffing dogs to guard a 2 km wide swath of land at the border.
Smith's announcement is said to be in response to President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods unless the flow of drugs and migrants from Canada to the U.S. stops.
"Deadly fentanyl seized entering the U.S. from Canada has more than tripled in a year," said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, recently.
"That is the legacy of the NDP-Liberal's failed radical hard drug legalization experiment destroying lives."