A 35-year-old man is facing smuggling charges after 66 condoms filled with suspected cocaine was "expelled" from a traveller who raised suspicions at the Pacific Highway border.
The seizure was the second of its kind – from an "internal carrier" – in the Pacific Region this year, Supt. Matt Jollymore of Canada Border Services Agency said Friday.
A man carrying 42 condoms filled with 1.2 kilograms of liquid cocaine was intercepted at the Vancouver airport in April.
The latest arrest and charges came about after a routine examination of passengers on a northbound bus Sept. 7 identified inconsistencies in one traveller's statements. Through a more in-depth, secondary exam, officers determined the man may have ingested narcotics.
Arrested and escorted to hospital, the traveller was monitored in a controlled environment and eventually passed 66 condoms filled with a combined 765 grams of suspected cocaine, Jollymore said.
Each package weighed approximately 11 grams.
Jollymore would not disclose where the accused is from but said the bus in question arrived at the border from Seattle and was destined for Vancouver.
He described the practice of smuggling narcotics internally as "an extreme risk."
"Internal couriers risk their lives when transporting illegal narcotics into Canada inside their bodies," he said. "One of those poorly packaged pellets could definitely result in an overdose."
Officers with the RCMP's Drug Enforcement Branch assisted with the investigation, taking the accused into custody Thursday afternoon.
Ricardo Vasquez is charged with unlawfully importing cocaine into Canada and unlawfully importing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.