The Canada Border Services Agency found over $9 million worth of cocaine in two suitcases at the Winnipeg airport. (CHAT News)

By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Canada border agency makes largest airport cocaine seizure in Prairie history in Winnipeg

Feb 27, 2024 | 10:48 AM

The largest airport cocaine seizure in Prairie history took place earlier this month in Winnipeg, Canada’s border agency reported Tuesday.

During an examination of an international flight on Feb. 9 that arrived at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, officers with the Canada Border Services Agency opened two unclaimed suitcases, according to a news release.

Inside the suitcases, the officers found 60 individually wrapped packages of suspected cocaine with a street value of over $9 million, weighing 74.8 kilograms in total.

The cocaine was handed off to the Manitoba RCMP but no further details — including where the cocaine came from or who it was travelling with — were released.

Hailing it as the largest narcotics seizure at a Prairie Region airport, the CBSA said it demonstrates its work to interrupt organized crime and keep communities safe.

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Greg Valentine, the border agency’s Prairie Region director of intelligence and enforcements operations division, said actions like these are part of an ongoing battle against illicit drug smuggling.

“Every day through the vigilance, expertise, and commitment of CBSA officers, we are combatting the smuggling of illegal narcotics into Canada and disrupting international crime networks,” Valentine said.

Thanks to the quick thinking of officers at the Winnipeg International Airport, more than 75 kg of cocaine is not going to make it to Canadian streets where it could have injured or destroyed countless lives.”