CBSA seizes large Calgary-bound shipment of fentanyl precursors from China

Canadian border guards stopped a massive 4,300-litre shipment of fentanyl chemicals from China, headed straight for Calgary.

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Canadian border guards stopped a massive 4,300-litre shipment of fentanyl chemicals from China, headed straight for Calgary.

In a statement, the border agency said officers inspected two marine containers on May 13 and 15, uncovering 3,600 litres of 1,4-butanediol, a compound Canada classifies as a precursor for GHB, commonly known as the “date-rape drug.” The seizure also included 500 litres of propionyl chloride, a key fentanyl precursor.

Authorities say that if fully converted, the chemicals could yield more than one metric ton of fentanyl, representing millions of potentially lethal doses. Even minute quantities of the synthetic opioid can be deadly, making the seizure a significant disruption to the illicit supply chain.

The agency said the investigation is ongoing and, to date, no arrests have been publicly announced.

The discovery comes amid renewed debate in the United States about whether fentanyl is entering the country from Canada. Some commentators have pointed to the Calgary-bound shipment as evidence supporting former U.S. president Donald Trump’s claim that fentanyl is “pouring unchecked” into the United States from the north.

To date, however, neither Canadian nor American authorities have reported significant seizures of fentanyl originating from Canada. What the data does show is that large volumes of fentanyl precursors are being offloaded at ports in both countries, almost all of them arriving from China.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports seizing roughly 2,800 kilograms of similar precursor chemicals during fiscal 2024, nearly all traced to Chinese suppliers. That total represents more than 12 times the volume of the recent Canadian seizure.

China has previously defended its anti-fentanyl enforcement, arguing that relentless American demand for the drug is to blame for the crisis. But a U.S. State Department report to Congress last month accused the Chinese Communist Party of continuing to “subsidize and otherwise incentivize China-based companies to export synthetic drug precursors, including through tax rebates, monetary grants and awards, and official site visits.” The report also said state-controlled firms remain “complicit in this illicit trade.”

The issue was front and centre during U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.

Following the meeting, Trump announced the United States would cut tariffs on Chinese goods, imposed in part to punish Beijing for the flow of fentanyl — to 10 per cent from 20 per cent.

Xi would work “very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, Trump said, adding the tariff reduction came because “I believe they are really taking strong action.” He described the summit as “an amazing meeting” where “a great deal of decisions were made.”

Back in February, whilespeaking to reporters in Vancouver, Canada’s Conservative Party and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre called it “absurd” that Trump had imposed a smaller punitive tariff on China than on Canada in connection with the fentanyl crisis, an inconsistency in Washington’s approach that Prime Minister Mark Carney has yet to address.