Border officials in Michigan seize 3rd bulk discovery of cocaine in a month
April 28 (UPI) -- U.S. border agents in Michigan intercepted nearly 200 pounds of cocaine on its way north to Canada in a third seizure of the illicit drug in weeks time, according to federal officials.
"Safe and secure international commerce is essential to protecting the homeland," Marty C. Raybon, director of CBP field operations in Michigan, said Monday in a release.
Last week, some 193 ponds of cocaine was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after they randomly selected a Canada-bound commercial truck for search during outbound enforcement operations near the U.S. point of entry at the Ambassador Bridge.
The driver, an unidentified Canadian citizen, faces federal prosecution in the United States.
"It's amazing enforcement work by all involved," said Port Director Marc Calixte.
An examination of the trailer on April 20 revealed "several" bricks of a "white powdery substance" that was concealed within two duffel bags and later confirmed to be cocaine via testing.
The cocaine was seized along with the truck and trailer.
This was now the third bulk cocaine seizure by field agents in Detroit since last month.
Normally, Border Patrol agents seize illicit drugs at the border with Mexico. However, more than 1,500 pounds of cocaine have been seized at Michigan ports of entry since October 2024.
In December, Canada said it was investing $1.3 billion to "bolster security at the border and strengthen the immigration system, all while keeping Canadians safe."
The case remains under investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Manhunt for suspect in Minnesota lawmaker shooting continues
June 15 (UPI) -- The search for the man suspected of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers in a "politically motivated" attack continued for the second day Sunday as authorities urged residents to keep their doors locked and cars secured. State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot dead Saturday in their Brooklyn Park home, near Minneapolis. Earlier, State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were wounded when a gunman shot them "multiple times" in Champlin. The suspect was later identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, who has not been located. Boelter's roommate told KMSP‑TV that he has multiple vehicles, one of which had been modified to look like a police car and was found outside of Hortman's house. In an emergency alert sent out Sunday in nearby Sibley County, authorities said a second vehicle owned by Boelter was found in Faxon Township. "Keep your doors locked and vehicles secured," the alert said. "Report suspicious activity to 911." Officials also said they would be going door-to-door to ask residents to search their properties for Boelter. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar indicated in an interview Sunday that Boelter may have left the state. Authorities have also put out an alert for him in South Dakota, she revealed on NBC News' Meet the Press. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said Saturday that investigators found a "manifesto" in Boelter's vehicle that included the names of other possible targets. An official who saw the list told NBC News it included officials who supported reproductive rights. President Donald Trump on Sunday called Gov. Tim Walz a "terrible governor" and "a grossly incompetent person" in comments to ABC's Rachel Scott but said he "may call him." The Minnesota shootings came ahead of another shooting Saturday at a "No Kings" protest against Trump in Salt Lake City that took place around the country. A protest outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Oregon was declared a riot by the Portland Police Bureau on Saturday.
The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Border Patrol drones have shown up at the LA protests. Should we be worried?
Customs and Border Protection recently confirmed the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones, over the unrest in Los Angeles. According to a statement to 404 Media, 'Air and Marine Operations' MQ-9 Predators are supporting our federal law enforcement partners in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with aerial support of their operations.' Officially, these drones, which CBP has used since 2005, are supposed to be for border security. CBP states that they are 'a critical element of CBP missions to predict, detect, identify, classify, track, deter and interdict border traffic that threatens the continuity of U.S. border security.' That may be true, but the drones are used for quite a bit more than that. CBP frequently lends them to other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies across the country, in some cases for uses that raise questions about civil liberties. Los Angeles is far from the first place where drones have been used to surveil protests and civil unrest. In the three weeks after George Floyd was killed by police in 2020, CBP lent drones to law enforcement agencies in 15 cities. In 2016, indigenous and environmentalist activists protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which they argued violated the rights and sovereignty of the Standing Rock Sioux. The local sheriff requested CBP drones to help surveil these protesters, which CBP subsequently provided. Surveillance of anti-pipeline activists with CBP drones didn't stop there. In 2020, Enbridge, Inc. was planning to build a pipeline and faced similar controversy and protests. CBP flew drones over its planned pipeline route and over the homes of anti-pipeline activists, including the executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. Surveilling protesters is a concerning use of drones, as it may chill or repress speech, association and assembly protected by the First Amendment. In 2015, CBP claimed it had not used drones to surveil protests or other First Amendment activities. Yet with multiple high-profile reports to the contrary in the years that followed, that appears to have changed. CBP drones are also often lent to different law enforcement agencies for other activities. In 2012, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates digital freedom and civil liberties, sued the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act to learn how often CBP lent drones to other agencies and why. Initially, Homeland Security sent the Electronic Frontier Foundation incomplete records that failed to mention around 200 drone flights carried out on behalf of other agencies. But by 2014, the foundation learned that CBP had lent drones to other agencies 687 times in the period from 2010 to 2012. This included flights on behalf of many law enforcement agencies, 'ranging from the FBI, ICE, the U.S. Marshals, and the Coast Guard to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the North Dakota Army National Guard, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.' In 2018, David Bier and Matthew Feeney of the Cato Institute published an analysis of CBP's drone program. They noted that 'From 2013 to 2016, only about half of CBP drone flight hours were actually in support of Border Patrol.' They also cite CBP statements 'that 20 percent of all Predator B flights were not in coastal or border areas.' When legislators approved this drone program, their goal was to secure the border. But these days, CBP drones are being used in ways that have significant potential to undermine the privacy of Americans, and not just in areas along the border. Multiple federal court rulings have allowed the government to conduct aerial surveillance without a warrant. No court order or even suspicion of a crime is required. Law-abiding citizens far from the border are therefore vulnerable. When governments acquire new tools, they don't just use them for their original purpose. Government officials, like all people, are creative. This results in 'mission creep' as powers quickly expand and are put to new uses. That means the rest of us should ask a simple question: How would you feel if this power were used against you? Nathan Goodman is a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University's F.A. Hayek Program.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former MP Han Dong settles defamation lawsuit with Global News
Former MP Han Dong has settled his defamation lawsuit against Global News, according to a statement posted to the news organization's website, closing a two-year legal battle that came after the outlet published an article alleging he advised a Chinese diplomat to hold off on freeing two Canadians who were detained in China at the time. On Sunday morning, Global published a statement on its website that said it and "former MP Han Dong have settled Mr. Dong's lawsuit concerning Global News stories that reported on allegations about Mr. Dong." In March 2023, Global published a story alleging Dong advised a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that Beijing should hold off on freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were being held by China at the time. Dong denied the allegations and filed a lawsuit against Global, its parent company Corus and several journalists just weeks after the story ran. In the final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue wrote that classified intelligence "corroborates Mr. Dong's denial of the allegation that he suggested the [People's Republic of China] should hold off releasing Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor. He did not suggest that the PRC extend their detention." In its statement, Global said it "recognizes the findings" of the inquiry's report, including the classified information reviewed by Hogue. The news organization added "the stories published by Global were based on information provided by confidential intelligence sources." "Mr. Dong has always denied the accuracy of this intelligence. In reporting on the sources' allegations concerning Mr. Dong, Global News's intent was to report on matters of significant public interest and to qualify that the allegations were unproven and subject to different interpretations," it said. In a statement to CBC News, Dong confirmed the settlement and said "after two long years, finally my family and I can move on." "I have had a profound appreciation of the privilege of holding a public office and being a member of the Liberal caucus," he said. Dong left the Liberal caucus in March 2023 to sit as an Independent MP. He did not seek re-election in the 2025 federal election in his suburban Toronto riding of Don Valley North after the Liberal Party told him they were going to run a new candidate, Maggie Chi — who later won the riding. WATCH | Dong quits Liberal caucus amid election interference allegations: In June 2024, an Ontario Superior Court judge found no documented evidence to support allegations made against Dong in the Global News articles. The judge's comments came as he rejected an application from Corus Entertainment to throw out Dong's lawsuit against the news service, saying it was in the public interest to hear the case. "The matter of Mr. Dong's communications with the Chinese are worthy of the freedom of expression of an open court system," Justice Paul Perell said in his judgment. Perell found the reporter who wrote the story did not see a transcript of the conversation between Dong and the diplomat, derived from the confidential sources, and did not keep all of the notes used as part of the reporting process. The ruling said the notes the reporter did keep, based on conversations with sources, do not contain any reference to Dong advising a Chinese diplomat to "delay" or "hold off" on releasing the two men. Kovrig and Spavor returned to Canada in September 2021, almost three years after they were first detained by China in what was widely seen to be a retaliatory action in response to Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of U.S. authorities.
