Ontario Provincial Police say massive cocaine seizure is largest in its history
The cocaine was hidden inside hollowed-out quartzite stones packed onto shipping containers coming from Argentina — the drugs were concealed so well that even police dogs couldn’t detect them.
It was a tip from the public that ultimately led to the largest drug seizure in the Ontario Provincial Police’s history as the force carried out an investigation into an international cocaine smuggling ring with ties to Mexican cartels.
Altogether the force said it seized 1,062 kilograms of cocaine during a months-long investigation that culminated in July, according OPP deputy commissioner Rick Barnum.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Barnum said Monday at a news conference at OPP headquarters in Orillia, Ont., adding that tests revealed the cocaine tested 97 per cent pure and was destined for distribution across the country where it would be cut with other drugs to increase profits.