One person is in custody in Canada and another in the U.S. after border guards seized 68 kilograms of B.C. marijuana near the Sumas border crossing.
Agent Michael Bermudez says border patrol agents were patrolling the area after midnight Wednesday when they "heard some commotion" and went to investigate.
Officers discovered the three large duffel bags filled with individually wrapped packages of marijuana near the Sumas Station.
Bermudez says the two people were carrying the marijuana across the border on foot.
The street value of the drugs is estimated to be US$750,000, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.
Officers arrested one suspect after searching the heavily wooded area for more than three hours. That person is now in custody with the Whatcom County Sheriffs Office awaiting charges.
After being tipped off by American authorities, RCMP apprehended a second suspect on the Canadian side of the crossing a short time later.
The citizenship of both suspects is not known.
This is the third drug bust made by U.S. border agents in less than a month, including one that contained thousands of ecstasy tablets.
Although Canadian-produced marijuana accounts for only two per cent of overall U.S. marijuana border seizures, Public Safety Canada says there has been a 259 per cent increase in marijuana border seizures overall since 2001.
