A truck driver was arrested after U.S. border officers discovered marijuana valued at $20 million hidden in a tractor-trailer. It was the largest drug bust at the Canada-U.S. border in five years, authorities said on Monday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered 9,472 pounds of marijuana during an inspection of the tractor-trailer at the Peace Bridge border facility near Buffalo, New York, on June 25. The marijuana was hidden in storage bins, the CBP said.
The seizure marked the third major marijuana bust involving a truck on the U.S. side of the Peace Bridge in less than a month. It also came during an uptick in drug seizures at the U.S.-Canada border since it shut down for non-essential travel in March.
“The resurgence of large-scale illicit marijuana seizures is alarming and brazen given the public health crisis,” Kevin Kelly, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, said in a statement.
U.S. federal prosecutors charged the driver, 26, with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and importing marijuana into the U.S. Authorities did not release the name of the driver, a Canadian resident.
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