Busy year for CBSA in New Brunswick
Canada Border Services Agency has had a productive year in New Brunswick.
A report from the security agency laid out some of the highlights of the work officers completed up to the end of October.
Among the highlights was a major cannabis seizure at the Port of Saint John in May.
During an export examination, officers seized 6,700 kilograms destined for Scotland.
The drugs were concealed in nearly 400 boxes inside a shipping container.
It was just one of 728 seizures of illegal drugs, including four grams of methamphetamines, 20 grams of cocaine, 32 kilograms of opioids, and 13,985 kilograms of illegal cannabis.
Of the opioids, nearly all was seized after a shipment was intercepted in Saint John of 31.5 kilograms of opium. The shipment arrived from the United Arab Emirates, concealed in two antique record players.
The shipping container had been identified and targeted by CBSA intelligence analysts in the Atlantic Region and was examined upon arrival in Canada.
Officers also made 135 seizures of firearms and prohibited items, including:
- 29 firearms
- 350 miscellaneous parts for firearms or magazines
- 154 prohibited weapons
- 27 prohibited devices.
Officers seized $230,142 in currency, suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Seven stolen vehicles were intercepted, and 664 detector dog searches were conducted, leading to 12 seizures of drugs or firearms.
Officers also arrested 14 suspected impaired drivers at ports of entry in New Brunswick.
When travellers show signs of impairment at the border, CBSA officers have the authority to administer field sobriety tests and take appropriate action.
CBSA officers welcomed more than 1.9 million travellers to New Brunswick, nearly 600,000 fewer than last year. That included international travellers and Canadians returning home.
They processed 52 cruise ships at their first port of arrival in Canada, including nearly 178,000 passengers and crew.
CBSA processed 53 asylum applications made in New Brunswick as of Nov. 30. As of that date in 2024, they’d processed just 28.
From an economic standpoint, CBSA officers processed 115,046 commercial trucks and 61,222 marine containers.
They also assessed a total of $671,960,066 in duties and taxes and $446,755,766 in value for duty on goods imported by Trusted Traders.
