| Sourced from 5 independent sources · no points in dispute |
CityNews, The News, PAX News, and CTV News
Every key fact in this report is confirmed by more than one independent source.
8 key facts · 8 corroborated · none disputed
Allegations described here are not proven in court unless stated.
Two Air Canada ground-operations employees have been arrested after the RCMP alleged they used access to secure areas at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport to move luggage tied to a cocaine and cannabis trafficking operation.
The case began with backpacks. A Canada Border Services Agency operation in May intercepted 62.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in backpacks on a flight from Punta Cana, setting off an RCMP investigation that has now led to searches across the Greater Montreal area and at the employees’ Air Canada work base in Dorval.
Arrests tied to airport access
The RCMP said the two suspects worked in ground-operations roles at Air Canada and are alleged to have used their airport access to move luggage through secure areas.
“They are alleged to have participated in a conspiracy to bring and move luggage through secure areas of the airport to facilitate the importation of cocaine and the exportation of cannabis,” the RCMP said.
That alleged use of trusted access sits at the centre of the case. Investigators say the operation involved the importation of cocaine and the exportation of cannabis through Montréal-Trudeau, with airport luggage movement forming a key part of the alleged scheme.
RCMP Corporal Marie-Pierre Guertin told CTV News that investigators believe the suspects used luggage-tag switching as part of the operation.
“The way that the suspects worked, basically, is they switched tags of suitcases or luggage that is going to a certain destination to be able to transport the luggage containing the drugs,” Guertin said.
Cocaine seizure sparked investigation
The investigation began in May, after CBSA officers intercepted 62.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in backpacks on a flight from Punta Cana.
Over the course of the probe, investigators also seized 56 kilograms of cannabis.
The RCMP has framed the case as an airport-based trafficking investigation involving both directions of drug movement: cocaine allegedly being imported and cannabis allegedly being exported. The suspects’ ground-operations roles are central to that allegation, because investigators say those roles provided access to secure airport areas where luggage could be moved.
Searches in Greater Montreal
On Wednesday, police searched two residences and a vehicle in the Greater Montreal area. Investigators also searched the employees’ Air Canada work base in Dorval.
Air Canada cooperated with the RCMP investigation, including the search at the Dorval work base. In a statement reported by CTV News, the airline said it was “cooperating fully with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”
The RCMP said the two arrested employees will be questioned and released pending further proceedings.
Case remains active
The investigation is not over. Police said analysis of the evidence collected during the searches could lead to additional arrests and charges.
For now, the known case rests on a sequence of events that began with cocaine hidden in backpacks on a Punta Cana flight, expanded through a cannabis seizure, and led investigators to Air Canada ground-operations employees accused of moving luggage through secure areas of Montréal-Trudeau.
The RCMP has asked anyone with information about illicit activity to contact police.
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