Four Mexicans Detained With $13 Million in Methamphetamine in Vancouver

"Parro" for Borderland Beat; CTV News Vancouver

A combination photo from images provided by the CBSA shows bricks the agency says were filled with meth.

VANCOUVER -- A massive amount of methamphetamine was seized in British Columbia (B.C.) earlier this year, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Tuesday. The tip came in on Feb. 4, the agency said in a statement issued two months later, and involved a shipping container at a Vancouver-area facility.

Officials did not say what raised their suspicions, but some kind of information was passed on from the CBSA National Targeting Centre. Border officers examined the container, which had been shipped from Mexico to the Tsawwassen Container Examination Facility. CBSA says its agents uncovered "bags of white crystal" inside.

A photo released by the agency shows stacks of pink bricks. A second photo appears to show one of the bricks cracked open. It looks hollow, and inside is a plastic bag filled with a white substance. The substance was tested in a lab and determined to be methamphetamine, the agency says. It claims officers found about 106 kilograms of powerful and highly addictive stimulant during the seizure.

The estimated value of that much meth is about $13.5 million. The investigation has been passed on to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), CBSA said. "We will not tolerate those who attempt to benefit from drug smuggling or any organized crime," Nina Patel, acting regional director general for the Pacific region, said in the emailed statement Tuesday.

In a separate statement, the RCMP announced four men had been charged for allegedly importing the drugs. Mounties said the contents of the shipping container were moved, after shipping, to a warehouse in Surrey, B.C. The location was "closely monitored" by the RCMP, and a warrant was obtained in late February, allowing investigators to search the warehouse.

Four men were seen running from the business, and were arrested, the RCMP said. The following men have been charged with one count each of importation of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance:

• Xavier Eduardo Hernandez Cedillo, age 27
• Alan Jesus Hernandez Cedillo, age 25
• Roberto Renteria Maldonado, age 35
• Sergio Ivan Cota Garcia, age 34

The RCMP says all four are citizens of Mexico, and have been released pending a court appearance in July. CBSA officers are trained to examine, investigate and intercept prohibited goods and illicit drugs, the agency says. Ports of entry in the Vancouver area receive about 60 per cent of more than 2.5 million marine containers shipped to Canada each year.

Note: This article was shared by Borderland Beat forum contributor "Parro". It was written by Kendra Mangione from CTV News Vancouver. Immediate source is linked here and above.