Brantford man charged in 'major' RCMP cocaine bust

A Brantford man faces charges after an international operation that the RCMP say took 1.5 tonnes of cocaine – valued at nearly $200 million – off the streets.

The drugs, hidden inside the cargo of a marine container, were seized by border services officers in Saint John, N.B. in early January.

In a media release the RCMP said the "major" bust represents the largest amount of cocaine seized from a marine shipping container in Atlantic Canada in three decades.

RCMP say the smuggling investigation began in the fall of 2021 when the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) received information about shipments from Central America.

“For the CBSA, probably the most significant seize of cocaine in our history,” David Glos with the CBSA said.

Border services and RCMP worked together on the investigation, which ultimately also involved multiple municipal police services including Waterloo regional police, Brantford police, Peel Regional police and OPP.

In December, CBSA began tracking a marine shipping container imported by a Greater Toronto Area resident from Central America.

“We spent a number of days going through the container using our investigative methods,” Glos said.

On Jan. 7, the shipping container was examined by border services officers at the Port of Saint John, N.B. and the drugs were seized.

“It is one of the largest ones that’s ever been seized,” Glos said. “Definitely the largest seizure ever in the Atlantic region of cocaine, going back 30 years.”

Three weeks later, on Jan. 27, RCMP executed a search warrant in Brantford, Ont. Six people were arrested at the scene, five were released with no charges.

The sixth, Kyle Alexander Purvis, 34, of Brantford Ont., was charged, and first appeared in court on Jan. 28.

Purvis is charged with importing a controlled substance into Canada and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

He was released under strict conditions, including electronic monitoring, with a subsequent a court appearance scheduled for March 3.

IMPACT ON LOCAL STREETS

Michael Parkinson with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council says, “while opioids are the most predominant substance, most overdose fatalities are the result of multiple drugs and that includes cocaine or crystal methamphetamine.”

Parkinson said there isn’t a lot of data available in regards to how much cocaine is used in southern Ontario.

“Because certain drugs are criminalized it’s hard to get a sense of how many people are using what kind of unregulated drugs.”

However, data shows cocaine is present on the streets and does contribute to deaths.

“We know that many people within Waterloo Region and Ontario do use cocaine and sometimes that is reflected in overdose fatality data.”

Parkinson said that while the large seizure of cocaine in Atlantic Canada is a great thing, it’s essentially only a small blip on the radar in comparison to the size of the illegal drug market.

In terms of positively impacting the supply of currently illegal drugs Parkinson said, “the right tool may be legalization with regulation.”