Canadian border officers seized 44kg of hashish and 13kg of cocaine packed into suitcases bound for Sri Lanka at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the Canada Border Services Agency has confirmed — a haul of 57kg in total.
The seizure took place on September 3, a CBSA spokesperson said in a statement to CTV News, which reported the case on Thursday. One person was arrested and remanded to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. No details of any charges, or of the person detained, were released.
The agency did not say how the consignment was identified, describing only its general method.
“CBSA officers use a risk management approach, intelligence information, detection tools and look for indicators of deception to determine if a more in-depth examination is required,” the spokesperson said.
What is not known
The CBSA has not said where in Sri Lanka the shipment was addressed, whether the suitcases were checked baggage or air cargo, on which airline or routing they were travelling, or whether the person arrested is a Sri Lankan national. Neither the agency nor the RCMP has named a suspect or confirmed charges. There is no indication in either report that Sri Lankan authorities have been involved in the investigation.
Note on dating and sourcing
The seizure is three weeks old. It became public only when the CBSA answered questions from CTV News, whose report was published on September 24; the Daily Mirror carried it in Sri Lanka on Friday night, reproducing CTV’s account. The two reports are therefore a single account, not independent corroboration.
Sri Lankan enforcement agencies have reported heavy interdiction volumes this year, including narcotics worth Rs. 55 billion seized by the Navy and repeated hashish detections at Bandaranaike International Airport — among them a Canadian national arrested with hashish at BIA in July.
