How Canadian Ford dealerships helped bust a Mexican meth shipment

A logistical mistake by smugglers appears to be responsible for the arrival of large shipments of illegal methamphetamine from Mexico to 13 Ford dealerships in three eastern Canadian provinces. 

Authorities believe the drugs found in mid-to-late December and January 2019 were never intended to reach dealerships in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. 

“An error” appears to have been made by the persons responsible for putting the drugs in the cars in the first place, said Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detective Insp. Rob Henderson, major case manager for the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB). 

Police believe the vehicles “were not destined for dealerships with methamphetamine secreted in them,” he said, indicating the smugglers failed to retrieve their illicit cargo before the rail shipment was broken up, and the vehicles delivered to individual dealerships. 

SHIPPED BY RAIL

OPP intercepted 180 kilograms of meth with a street value of about $4.5 million. It was packed into spare tires and hidden in the trunks of Ford Fusion cars built in Hermosillo, Mexico, and shipped by rail to Canada. 

Police suspect smugglers affiliated with the Sinaloa drug cartel gained access to the cars after they left the assembly plant, said Henderson, though how, when and where remains under investigation. 

The drugs were first found by dealership staff in four Ontario locations. Each reported to police, resulting in a multi-jurisdictional investigation dubbed Project Sebright, involving the Canada Border Security Agency (CBSA), the Sûreté du Québec, and Woodstock, N.B., municipal police. Ford of Canada provided additional shipping information that police used to locate and seize more meth. 

Nine of 14 Fusions from that shipment – found at nine individual Ontario Ford dealerships – contained the drugs, all wrapped in one-kilogram packages inside non-spec spare tires. 

OPP Supt. Bryan MacKillop said that working with evidence gained from the first reports and with additional shipping information provided by Ford, authorities intercepted more drugs from a second railcar that was part of the same shipment, finding meth in six of the 14 vehicles aboard. 

Another shipment stopped at the border by CBSA found 12 of 14 Fusions contained the drug in spare tires. 

In all, said Henderson, 180 kilograms “or roughly 400 pounds” of meth were prevented from circulating in Canada. 

MacKillop said at a press conference announcing the investigation in late February that police believe those responsible have since quit this particular smuggling effort, and no more drugs have been found in spare tires since. OPP declined to release the list of dealerships involved, citing safety concerns. 

NON-SPEC SPARE TIRES 

It was just another business day in mid-December when staff at Fines Ford Lincoln in Bolton, Ont. began a routine bumper-to bumper inspection on a Mexico-built Fusion that had been delivered overnight. 

Dealership principal Robert Fines said an employee conducting the inspection noted that the trunk floor mat in one of the vehicles did not fit properly. 

Further inspection found that the spare tire beneath it “didn’t come close” to matching specification for a Fusion “and was not the proper spare tire at all,” Fines told Automotive News Canada. 

The technician also noticed that the non-spec tire felt heavier than it should have, Fines said. He broke it down to discover the meth hidden inside. 

“At that point we were done,” Fines said, and police were called. 

A similar scene played out at three other Ontario Ford dealerships in Chelmsford, Collingwood and Newmarket, all of which reported their findings to the OPP, Insp. Henderson said. 

Using shipping manifests provided by Ford, three more dealerships in Quebec (at Thetford Mines, Lévis and Quebec City) and one in Woodstock, N.B. were found to have received Fusions containing meth-laden spare tires. In Woodstock, one Fusion was found with seven kilograms of meth packed into a non-spec spare tire. 

EXPLOITED PARTIES 

“We believe that in this case, a vehicle manufacturer and a rail company were exploited by a well-established crime group,” Henderson said. 

Ford Motor Co. of Canada declined to make an official available to discuss the matter but did issue a brief statement saying it was “working closely with a number of law enforcement agencies.” 

An official with the Canada Border Security Agency acknowledged the on-going investigation but would not discuss details.  

The OPP-led investigation continued as this issue went to press. Henderson did not elaborate further other than to say that “some persons of interest have been identified,” no charges have yet been laid and no more drugs have been found.