Police have charged two people in relation to a drug smuggling investigation that occurred earlier this week at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
On July 22, at approximately 10:25 a.m., while examining outbound luggage at the airport, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers intercepted four large suitcases containing 140 lbs of suspected cannabis.
Upon further examination, the luggage was identified as belonging to two passengers scheduled to leave the country on an international flight to the United Kingdom. CBSA officers located and boarded the aircraft, identified the two passengers and arrested them for smuggling a controlled substance out of Canada, contrary to S. 159(2) of the Customs Act.
The suspects were escorted to CBSA detention cells located within the airport, with the assistance of officers of the Halifax Regional Police Airport Security Unit.
A short time later, they were interviewed by investigators from the Guns and Drugs Unit of the RCMP/HRP Integrated Criminal Investigation Division. This led to investigators seizing amounts of Canadian and American currency, as well as British pounds.
The suspects, along with all evidence seized by the CBSA, were turned over to the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division for further investigation.
Rebekah Dublin, 22, and Shante Liverpool, 20, have been charged with:
· Possession for the Purpose of Distributing Cannabis
· Possession for Purpose of Exporting Cannabis
· Possession for the Purpose of Selling Cannabis
· Possession of Property Obtained by Crime
· Laundering Proceeds of Crime
They both appeared in Dartmouth Provincial Court yesterday and were remanded into custody. They will return in court today.
Transporting cannabis across the Canadian border is a serious criminal offence.
File 24-98930