Over 1B doses of fentanyl precursor, other drugs seized by CBSA in B.C. this year

As part of its yearly recap, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has shared a snippet of some of the illegal drugs that were denied entry into B.C. this year.

The CBSA has published “operational enforcement highlights” from the year for different areas throughout the country, including the Pacific Region which consists of 43 ports of entry between land, air, and sea spread across five districts in B.C. and the Yukon.

In one instance highlighted in May, the agency says a shipment of goods from China — declared as toys — was found to have over 1,113 kilograms of a chemical that would have produced over a billion doses of fentanyl.

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In another instance, in June, the CBSA says a different shipment from China was found to have been carrying 1,100 kilograms of a chemical used to make MDMA. It had the potential to make over a million doses of the drug, the agency says.

Crews at Vancouver International Airport also came away with potential illicit drugs throughout the year. From Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, the CBSA says crews intercepted more than 250 shipments, weighing a total of 5,000 kilograms of a chemical used to make MDMA. That includes a 389.3-kilogram seizure of the substance in August, which was declared as pet shampoo.

The agency also highlighted two instances of untraceable firearms, or “ghost guns” that were seized throughout the year.

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As for the flow of people coming into the country, CBSA says numbers are up from last year. From Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, the agency says 11,441,510 travellers, representing an increase of over 451 per cent from 2021.

Additionally, the pacific region saw about 569,000 commercial trucks cross into Canada, with over 20.5 million courier shipments.