This cocaine bust is one for the record books

A truck hauling produce from California was also carrying 99.5 kilograms of suspected cocaine — stashed in a microwave and under a mattress — when searched by border agents last weekend, resulting in the arrests of two men.

The Canada Border Services Agency says it sets the agency’s record for largest suspected cocaine seizure in Alberta. The truck, which was destined for a business in Alberta, pulled into the Coutts border crossing from Montana on Dec. 2 and a search of the vehicle’s cab uncovered 84 bricks of suspected cocaine.

CBSA director Guy Rook said officers found eight bricks of suspected narcotics in a microwave, another 14 bricks in a drawer and the area around the microwave, 18 bricks between the end of the bed and the wall of the truck, and 44 bricks under the top bunk mattress.

“If this cocaine were streetready, it would have been enough for over 100,000 hits,” said Rook.

Insp. Allan Lai, operations officer for the RCMP federal polic- ing program for southern Alberta, said the estimated street value of the cocaine is between $6.7 million and $8.4 million, or more, depending on how it’s mixed, cut and sold.

The driver and a passenger, both from California, were arrested and turned over to the RCMP. Gur- minder Singh Toor, 31, and Kirandeep Kaur Toor, 26, were later charged with four counts each under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the RCMP said.

The nearly 100 kilos seized topped a previous CBSA record of 92.74 kg, also intercepted at Coutts, in October 2016.

DEAN PILLING Canadian Border Services Agency director Guy Rook, centre, and CBSA agents display the nearly 100 kilograms of cocaine found in the cab of a truck that was stopped at the Coutts border crossing last weekend.

Eight of the 84 bricks of cocaine were stashed inside a microwave.