VANCOUVER -- Police and Canadian border security say they seized nearly 17 kilograms of what they believe to be cocaine from a ship earlier this summer.
The RCMP says it found 11 "individually wrapped packages" of a white substance in the engine room of a commercial vessel sailing near Victoria, B.C. on June 2.
A field test showed the substance was suspected to be cocaine, according to police. In total, they allege, 16.84 kilograms of the substance was taken off the ship.
Officers from various border security teams, incluidng the Victoria Marine Operations and Pacific Region Intelligence Section, had boarded the vessel after it entered the Constance Bank Anchorage in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The Vancouver Island Dive Team joined the investigation the next day to search the vessel below the waterline.
They found "evidence of tampering," according to a news release from the Canada Border Services Agency, suggesting there may have been more drugs on board that had been "retrieved underwater sometime before law enforcement's intervention."
Police say they found no other narcotics on board.
The unnamed ship travelled between multiple continents, including South America and Europe, before entering B.C. waters, according to police.
No arrests or charges have been made.
