Three individuals in Australia charged in relation to the seizure

THE Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on Tuesday announced the seizure of 1,278 litres of liquid methamphetamine in British Columbia bound for export to Australia. This seizure represents approximately 4 million individual doses with an estimated street value of $2 million.

On June 27, CBSA Border Services Officers from the Metro Vancouver District, with the support of the Detector Dog Service, examined a container destined for export through the Fraser Surrey Docks. During the exam, officers found anomalies in the packaging of the bottles labelled as apple and grape juice. Upon further examination, officers discovered 1,320 bottles filled with methamphetamine.

This significant seizure can be attributed to the collaboration of multiple CBSA units, including teams in the Metro Vancouver District Marine Operations, the Tsawwassen Container Examination Facility and Pacific Region Intelligence Section, along with the collaboration and contributions from CBSA’s domestic and international law enforcement partners.

The investigation of these seizures was referred to the RCMP in Ontario, who worked with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force. As a result of the collaboration between the agencies, three individuals in Australia were charged in relation to this seizure.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a press release that this amount of liquid methamphetamine has an estimated street value of Australian $400 million [1 Australian Dollar equals 0.92 Canadian Dollar], once converted in crystal methamphetamine, and could have equated to 4 million individual street deals.

The AFP said it launched its investigation after the CBSA allegedly identified the illicit drugs in May 2024, when the consignment arrived in Vancouver from Brazil.

The RCMP alerted the AFP before the liquid methamphetamine was removed from the consignment and replaced with an inert substance. The shipment then continued to Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland, Australia, where it arrived via a container ship on September 3.

The AFP arrested three men after the consignment was delivered to a semi-rural property in Jimboomba, Queensland, and stored in a large shed.

“The safety and security of Canadians is our top priority. I want to thank the CBSA, the RCMP and our Australian law enforcement partners for their excellent work in disrupting organized crime and protecting our communities from dangerous drugs,” said federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

“Our agency is combatting the smuggling of illegal drugs at our border and disrupting transnational criminal networks. These seizures demonstrate the diligence and detection capabilities of our border services officers and the important role of our intelligence operations in intercepting illegal and harmful substances,” said Nina Patel, Regional Director General, Pacific Region, CBSA.

“This is another example of working closely with our international partners and maintaining strong relationships with law enforcement agencies around the world. Transnational crime has no borders, as we live in an increasingly global and interconnected world. The RCMP looks beyond the Canadian borders and works closely with its international partners to disrupt international drug trafficking networks,” said Chief Superintendent. Stephen Lee, Deputy Regional Commander, RCMP Federal Policing Program, Pacific Region.

“Through this operation the AFP, working with our partners in Canada, has prevented a large amount of this illicit drug from reaching our communities and causing harm, and put a sizeable dent in the wallets of organised crime. I’d like to thank our partners in Canada for their invaluable assistance with this investigation,” said Acting Commander Adrian Telfer, Australian Federal Police.