CBSA and RCMP collaboration results in smuggling charges

February 25, 2021, Toronto, Ontario              

Canada Border Services Agency / Royal Canadian Mounted Police                       

Two individuals facing smuggling charges are scheduled to appear at the A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse in April 2021. 

On February 7, 2021, border services officers with the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) - Greater Toronto Area Region, examined a family of two adults and two children, ages 10 and 12, arriving from Montego Bay, Jamaica, at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. 

During the examination of the travellers’ luggage, CBSA officers discovered approximately 7.7 kilograms of suspected cocaine, 93 kilograms of suspected marijuana, and 218 grams of suspected hashish. A suitcase concealing cannabis was checked in under the ticket of a 12-year-old child. The CBSA estimates the value of the suspected drugs seized at over $1.6 million:  

• Cocaine: $962,500
• Marijuana: $688,940
• Hashish: $4,360

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) - Toronto Airport Detachment initiated an investigation and have charged both parents from Brampton, Ontario, with three counts of Importation of a Controlled Substance contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and three counts of Conspiracy to Commit an Indictable Offence contrary to the Criminal Code.

Arrangements were made in consultation with the Region of Peel Children’s Services to release both children to other family members.

The two adults were released on bail awaiting trial. 

If you have information about the exploitation of the border for criminality, you can contact your local police, the RCMP in Ontario at 1-800-387-0020, or the CBSA Border Watch Toll-free Line at 1-888-502-9060.