Duo charged with importing heroin, cocaine via Blue Water Bridge

Two Ontario men were arrested Saturday at the Blue Water Bridge near Sarnia and charged with importing cocaine and heroin into Canada, court records show.

Few details were available Tuesday, with a Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson directing questions to the RCMP, who confirmed only the names of the suspects and the charges laid.

The RCMP did not respond by press time to a followup request for more details of the weight and value of the suspected drugs and what type of vehicle they were seized in.

“As this matter is currently before the court, the RCMP has no further comments at this time,” a spokesperson said by email.

Emmanuel Dangyimah, 32, of Etobicoke, and Reinhard Owusu-Appiah, 35, of Ottawa, each face two counts of importing drugs and two counts of possessing drugs for trafficking, tied to cocaine and heroin, under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, records show.

Both men, wearing standard-issue orange inmate clothes, appeared briefly in a Sarnia court by video from the city’s jail Tuesday.

Jason Hallan, an articling student acting for Mississauga-based lawyer Harval Bassi, said they’ve been hired for both men’s bail hearings and asked for the cases to come back later this week as they put together their respective plans.

Owusu-Appiah is a certified network and systems administrator who helps organizations secure systems and networks, according to his LinkedIn page. Both men appear to have ties to Kumasi, a city in Ghana, West Africa, according to social media.

Over the last two-plus years, at least 11 people – nine of them truckers – have been accused of trying to smuggle millions of dollars in illegal drugs, mostly cocaine but also heroin and methamphetamine, from the US into Canada via the Blue Water Bridge .

The twin-span bridge, linking Port Huron, Mich., and the Sarnia area over the St. Clair River, was just four days into a months-long lane reduction amid a $4-million maintenance project when the alleged incident took place.

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BLUE WATER BRIDGE DRUG BUSTS

• March 31, 2021: About 62 kilograms of suspected cocaine worth approximately $3.5 million was found in a pair of suitcases on a half-pallet near the nose of a tractor-trailer. A Brampton trucker, 25, who denied seeing the drugs, awaits a judge’s decision after his trial in May.
• Jan. 13, 2022: About 265 kg of suspected heroin, pink cocaine and methamphetamines was seized and a Quebec City trucker, 23, charged.
• April 8, 2022: About 60 kg of suspected cocaine was found, lthough new charges linked to heroin were laid later. A Brampton trucker, 25, was charged.
• June 21, 2022: Suitcases holding 100 bricks of suspected cocaine were found and a Toronto trucker, 62, was charged.
• Oct 17, 2022: 224 kg of cocaine worth about $9.4 million was seized and a Brampton trucker, 68, was charged.
• Dec 11, 2022: 89 bricks of suspected cocaine worth as much as $6 million were seized and two truckers from Brampton were charged.
• Dec 14, 2022: 84 one-kilogram bricks of suspected cocaine worth $4 million were seized and a Caledon trucker was charged.
• April 11: 45.2 kg of suspected cocaine worth more than $2 million was seized and a Mississauga trucker, 30, was charged. The suspect was granted lease last month.
• July 8: Two men from Toronto and Ottawa charged with importing cocaine and heroin.