Manitoba RCMP make large marijuana bust after officers pull over semi trailer
Posted July 27, 2018 1:10 pm.
Last Updated July 27, 2018 2:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A routine highway checkstop in Manitoba has resulted in what police say is the largest marijuana drug bust through a traffic stop in Canada in three years.
RCMP say patrol officers stopped a semi-trailer on Sunday on the Trans-Canada Highway in Westhawk, about 150 kilometres east of Winnipeg, near the Ontario boundary.
It was a standard regulatory inspection of the driver’s paperwork. But several discrepancies were found, so the officers checked the load in the back of the truck, Supt. Scott McMurchy said at a news conference Friday.
“When the officers opened the trailer, they found 925 pounds (almost 455 kilograms) of vacuum-sealed marijuana, as well as 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of cannabis shatter, oils, edibles and other products,” McMurchy said.
The expertly sealed and packaged drugs were placed in brown boxes among legitimate food products.
McMurchy said the truck started its journey in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and was heading to southern Ontario.
The driver, 46-year-old Claudiu Huber from British Columbia, was arrested and faces trafficking charges.
RCMP said even if cannabis were legal, the shipment would be against the law and dangerous, because there’s no way to tell who grew it or how without further testing.
“Even under the new legislation which comes into effect in October, this (would) still be an illegal load,” McMurchy said.
Federal legalization of recreational cannabis is expected this fall.
