RCMP Seize 228.14 kg of Meth With A Street Value of $28.5 Million

CBSA seizure of record amount of meth leads to RCMP charges

On December 25, 2020, while facilitating the entry of essential goods at the Coutts, Alberta port of entry, CBSA officers referred a semi-truck hauling produce for further inspection. While examining the shipment, CBSA officers uncovered 228.14 kg of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $28.5 million. This amount of methamphetamine translates to 2.28 million individual dosages.

This is the CBSA’s largest seizure of methamphetamine at a land border crossing on record across Canada. 

CBSA officers arrested the driver and turned the individual in to and the evidence over to Alberta RCMP. After a thorough investigation, the RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) has since charged Amarpreet Singh Sandhu, 38, of Calgary on the following counts pursuant to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act:
• Importation of a Controlled Substance, contrary to Section 6(1); and,
• Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, contrary to Section 5(2).

Sandhu was released from custody on January 14, 2021, and is scheduled to appear in court on February 11, 2021, at the Lethbridge Provincial Courthouse.

“While many Canadians were celebrating Christmas at home, border services officers at Coutts remained on the front line to protect our country. It is because of CBSA officers’ diligence while screening essential goods that this record amount of methamphetamine did not reach our streets or cause harm to our communities.” – Ben Tame, Director, Southern Alberta and Southern Saskatchewan District, Prairie Region, Canada Border Services Agency

Seizing and effectively preventing this enormous amount of methamphetamine from reaching our streets will have a positive impact on the safety of all Alberta communities. This seizure reflects our mutual commitment to providing excellent law enforcement services to the communities to which we serve and protect.

This seizure, arrest and subsequent charges were only made possible due to the close partnership the CBSA and RCMP have in monitoring and investigating cross-border smuggling of illicit drugs. 

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