Another truck driver – the first of the year but at least the 14th since 2021 – has been arrested at the Blue Water Bridge and accused of smuggling illegal drugs worth millions of dollars into Canada, court records show.
Another truck driver – the first of the year but at least the 14th since 2021 – has been arrested at the Blue Water Bridge and accused of smuggling illegal drugs worth millions of dollars into Canada, court records show.
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Little information about the incident was available Tuesday other than a person was arrested March 1 at the twin-span bridge connecting Michigan and the Sarnia area after Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers discovered cocaine, records show.
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Stepan Bardouk, 37, from Toronto, is facing charges of importing cocaine and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, court documents say. He was transferred to Lambton OPP that Friday and held at headquarters in Petrolia overnight before making his first court appearance through a video link.
The case was adjourned and Bardouk was moved to the Sarnia Jail. He’s made a handful of brief court appearances from there since then, including on Tuesday, when his lawyer asked for the case to come back next week as he waits for disclosure of evidence from the Crown and sets up a bail hearing.
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A CBSA spokesperson didn’t provide any additional information about the incident by press time Tuesday and an RCMP spokesperson said they can’t comment on the case.
Bardouk is at least the 15th person – all but one were truckers – accused of smuggling illegal drugs into Canada over the twin-span bridge since 2019. Most of the cases involved cocaine, but border officers also have seized heroin and methamphetamine.
The majority of the accused, mostly Ontario and Quebec residents between ages 23 and 68, have been granted lease. But the most recent arrest, a Brampton trucker facing smuggling charges in an alleged $1.3-million cocaine bust, was recently denied lease.
Most of the trucker importing cases are still before the courts in Sarnia, although one was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison and another was recently cleared of all charges.
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A Brantford man caught in 2019 with $5 million worth of cocaine in a secret compartment in his personal SUV also is going to be sentenced soon, likely to be between nine and 12 years in prison.
5 YEARS OF DRUG BUSTS AT THE BLUE WATER BRIDGE
2023
- Dec. 4: Brampton trucker, 27, charged after officers found boxes with 52 kg suspected cocaine. Case still before courts.
- Aug. 3: Caledon trucker, 26, charged with importing methamphetamine. Case still before courts.
- July 8: Toronto and Ottawa men charged with importing $6 million in cocaine and heroin. Case still before courts.
- April 11: Mississauga trucker, 30, charged after officers sixteen 45 kg of suspected cocaine worth $2-plus million. Case still before courts.
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2022
- Dec. 14: Caledon trucker, 55, charged after officers found 82 bricks of suspected cocaine worth $4 million. Case still before courts.
- Dec. 11: Two Brampton truckers charged after officers sixteen 89 bricks of suspected cocaine worth as much as $6 million. Case still before courts.
- Oct 17: 224 kg of cocaine worth about $9.4 million seized. Charges against Brampton trucker, 68, later dropped.
- June 21: Toronto trucker, 62, charged after suitcases holding 100 bricks of suspected cocaine are found. Case still before courts.
- April 8: Brampton trucker, 25, charged after officers sixteen suspected cocaine and heroin. Case still before courts.
- Jan. 13: Quebec trucker, 23, charged after officers found 265 kg of suspected heroin, pink cocaine and meth. Case still before courts.
2021
- March 31: About 62 kg of suspected cocaine worth about $3.5 million found in two suitcases in a trailer. Brampton trucker, 25, convicted of importing at trial and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
2019
- May 24: Brantford man, 29, caught with $5 million in cocaine hidden in a steel compartment underneath the third row of seats in his SUV. He pleaded guilty to importing drugs and will be sentenced later this month.
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