Border agents in BC find $875K of cocaine in ship's engine room

Mounties and border agents have announced the seizure of nearly 17 kilograms of cocaine from a commercial ship off Vancouver Island.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and RCMP boarded the ship when it was at Constance Bank Anchorage near Victoria.

CBSA agents found 11 wrapped packages in the ship’s engine room when they searched it on June 2.

The packages were later found to contain 16.84 kilograms of cocaine worth about $875,000.

On June 3, a dive team examined the vessel beneath the waterline.

They found evidence of tampering, the RCMP said, suggesting that there were more drugs on the ship which had already been retrieved before the search.

The ship had come from South America, Europe, the Caribbean and the US.

No arrests were made.

“Any drug seizure, small or large, is significant and keeps our communities safe,” said Nina Patel, Acting Pacific Region Director General at the CBSA.