Two Brantford men are set to appear in court this week in connection with a year-long joint drug investigation that began with the seizure of $198 million worth of cocaine.
Canada Border Services, the RCMP and Brantford police say the smuggling operation involved three men from southern Ontario who are now facing offences connected with importing and trafficking cocaine.
Two Brantford men, 35 and 47, and a 42-year-old from New Hamburg, Ont., are among those charged in the probe, which started with a seizure in Saint John, N.B.
Close to 1.5 tonnes of cocaine were discovered by border services officers in the January 2022 seizure.
Investigators say the drugs were found hidden in industrial machinery inside a shipping container from Central America that had been imported by one of the Brantford men.
Six people would be arrested days later during the execution of a search warrant in Brantford.
Five were released with no charges pending.