Border agents at Vancouver airport seize 149 kilos of meth bound for export

All six travellers were arrested and taken into custody by the RCMP, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. (Handout)

Canadian border agents seized 149 kilograms of methamphetamine bound for export to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong in six separate searches of passenger luggage at the Vancouver International Airport earlier this year.

The Canada Border Services Agency announced the seizures in a statement Monday, estimating the street value of the drugs at half a million dollars.

Nina Patel, director of the CBSA’s Pacific region, says the seizures were a demonstration of the agency’s “detection and intelligence” capabilities.

“Our border services officers are combatting illegal drug smuggling and disrupting domestic and international crime networks,” Patel said in the statement.

Drugs giftwrapped

The first seizure was made on Jan. 18, when border officials found 35.7 kilograms of methamphetamine giftwrapped in Baby Yoda wrapping paper inside two suitcases, according to the statement. The agency says the drugs were destined for export to Hong Kong.

Less than two weeks later, officials searched two more suitcases bound for Hong Kong and discovered 28.5 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside coffee bags, the agency said.

On Feb. 16, border services officers searched the luggage of an Australia-bound passenger and found 23.5 kilograms of methamphetamine. “The narcotics were concealed in packages wrapped in towels soaked with vinegar and cayenne pepper in an attempt to mask the smell,” the statement said.

Later that week, on Feb. 19, border agents at the airport made three separate seizures, intercepting two shipments of methamphetamine – one weighing 19.2 kilograms and the other 16.4 kilograms – from the luggage of two passengers bound for Australia.

The third seizure that day netted approximately 25.5 kilograms of methamphetamine from a passenger destined for New Zealand. The drugs were concealed inside vacuum-sealed packaging along with a mixture of coffee and pepper, the CBSA said.

All six travellers were arrested and taken into custody by the RCMP, according to the agency.