O Canada, Opioid Woes! Is the government sleeping through the crisis? Maple syrup or machine parts—how creative are drug smugglers getting at the border? Can the CBSA keep up with the deadly game of hide and seek?
Canada grapples with a persistent opioid crisis, now normalized in everyday life. Contrary to addressing it, the government appears to be strategizing methods to import these hazardous substances. According to CBC’s recent report, Canadian criminal entities are attempting to bring in perilous narcotics and fentanyl ingredients, often resorting to ‘creative’ techniques, as outlined by a senior border official.
Aaron McCrorie, CBSA’s vice-president of intelligence and enforcement, highlighted in an interview with CBC’s The House, the manifold ‘innovative’ methods employed for drug smuggling. He stated, ‘Shipments are concealed within machine parts, dissolved in liquids and disguised as maple syrup, and even hidden amid baking tools.’
“We see shipments being concealed in machine parts. Being dissolved in liquids and being shipped as maple syrup, for example. Being hidden in baking tools,” McCrorie told host Catherine Cullen.
“It’s an ever-evolving game where we’re constantly looking at new and different tactics to smuggle drugs into the country or out of the country.”
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“Canada witnesses a sobering toll of 21 daily deaths due to the toxic drug crisis, with fentanyl playing a significant role in these fatalities.
A considerable portion of the fentanyl present in Canada, alongside its precursor substances, originates from overseas. CBSA reports indicate the seizure of 496 grams of fentanyl and nearly 31,000 kilograms of diverse narcotics and chemicals within the initial half of 2023.
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Remarkably, a lethal dose of fentanyl amounts to just two milligrams.
McCrorie, echoing RCMP insights to Cullen, emphasizes the production of fentanyl by domestic criminal entities for both national consumption and international trade. Notably, key international markets for Canadian fentanyl encompass the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, as confirmed by law enforcement officials.”
More and more precursor chemical shipments
A trend seen by CBSA officials in 2023 is an increasing number of shipments that contain the key ingredients of fentanyl, rather than the completed drug.
“We’re seeing a decrease in the amount of fentanyl coming into the country, but we’re seeing increases in the amount of precursors coming into the country,” McCrorie said.
Most of the precursor chemicals for fentanyl are imported to Canada from China, either directly or transhipped via the United States or South American countries, law enforcement says.
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Although Canada maintains the stance of countering the influx of illicit fentanyl and opioids, does the data support that?
Despite the Trudeau government’s so-called efforts, the number of deaths owing to drug overdoses are rising in the country. A report revealing toxic drugs as the leading cause of death in B.C. youth and 174 fatalities due to drug overdoses in August alone signal the urgency for enhanced education and reduced stigma.
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McCrorie stressed that while intercepting drugs at the border is pivotal, it forms only a fraction of the comprehensive fight against the toxic drug crisis.
“It’s not just about interdicting the drugs but it’s also about harm reduction. It’s also about preventing people from starting to use these drugs in the first place,” he said.
Since 2016, over 30,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada have surpassed combined major accidental death causes, significantly impacting life expectancy and triggering public health emergencies. Despite initial media attention and political vows, recent silence doesn’t signal victory. The first half of 2022 saw 3,556 opioid-related deaths, akin to 2021’s tolls—both the highest since national data collection. The crisis persists, claiming lives, especially among the youth, and has normalized into a distressing ‘new normal.’
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