The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it seized 4,300 litres of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and other illicit drugs in shipping containers coming from China, which were bound for Calgary.
The seizure occurred in May at the Tsawwassen Container Examination Facility in Delta, B.C., but was publicly announced by CBSA on Thursday — one day before Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
The border agency said officers inspected two marine containers on May 13 and 15 and found 3,600 litres of 1,4-Butanediol, which Canada classifies as a precursor for manufacturing GHB, also known as the “date-rape drug.”
Officers also found 500 litres of the fentanyl precursor propionyl chloride and 200 litres of gamma butyrolactone of GBL, another date-rape drug compound.
CBSA said the investigation is ongoing.
“This is yet another concrete example of the relentless dedication shown by the CBSA and RCMP in securing our border and stopping the flow of fentanyl,” Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a statement.
China is a major source of precursor chemicals for the domestic manufacturing of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, according to federal officials and independent experts.
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The U.S. also accuses China of fuelling the fentanyl crisis through shipments of precursor chemicals and opioids, sanctioning multiple Chinese chemical companies over the issue.
U.S. President Donald Trump met with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in South Korea on Thursday, and said afterward that China agreed to “work diligently with us to stop the flow of fentanyl into our country.”
Trump said he will lower his 20 per cent blanket tariff imposed on China over the fentanyl precursor shipments to 10 per cent after securing other economic commitments from Xi.
Carney said Monday that he and Xi will discuss “a broad range of issues, both in terms of the commercial relationship as well as the evolution of the global system” when they sit down together Friday, but did not mention the fentanyl issue.
The meeting will mark a significant thaw in relations and the first time the leaders of the two countries have met formally since Justin Trudeau met with Xi during an official visit to China in 2017.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said after visiting senior officials in China earlier this month that Canada now views Beijing as a strategic partner in a dangerous world — three years after Ottawa called China a “disruptive global power.”
Speaking to the House of Commons foreign affairs committee Thursday, Anand said Canada and China are “in the process of recalibrating that relationship.” She said she continues to raise “important issues” with China including transnational repression and human rights.
Carney’s meeting with Xi will come seven months after then-foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly confirmed in March that four Canadians holding dual Chinese citizenship were given the death penalty in China.
At the time, Joly said the federal government “strongly condemns” the actions by China over what they called “drug-related crimes.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said after Carney spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in June that the leaders committed to working together to address the fentanyl crisis, while regularizing communication between the two countries.
The federal government says its $1.3-billion border security plan announced in December includes over $355 million that “will help the CBSA bolster its front line and get the latest tools and technology to stop drugs and firearms.”
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