MONTREAL — Air Canada says it has suspended the two employees arrested by the RCMP on Wednesday in connection with alleged cocaine and cannabis trafficking out of Montréal-Trudeau Airport. The airline would not comment further on the arrests. The RCMP says it released the two workers. The force says they could face charges for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to move luggage into the airport’s secure areas to facilitate importing cocaine and exporting cannabis. The investigation began in May, after the Canada Border Services Agency intercepted 62.5 kg of cocaine in backpacks on a flight from Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic. The RCMP says that 56 kg of cannabis were also seized during the investigation. RCMP spokesperson Marie-Pierre Guertin said there could be additional arrests in the case. “If there are accusations, it will depend on the analysis of the evidence we’ve gathered. It could take weeks, months,” she said. The arrested employees worked in ground operations at Air Canada. Guertin said that this drug-trafficking case isn’t the first of its kind, with a similar arrest made in Toronto earlier this year. “It’s certain that this is a phenomenon that we’ve seen in the last few months too,” she said. In March, the RCMP arrested and charged an Air Canada employee after they found around 33 kg of cannabis in suitcases at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026. Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman, The Canadian Press
