A 21-year-old man from Montreal has been charged with trying to smuggle more than $21 million worth of drugs into Japan.
According to police, Jonathan Isabelle was arrested on February 17 after customs officials discovered 30 kilograms of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, inside two suitcases. The drugs have an estimated value of 1.8 billion yen ($21,475,238 CAD).
Isabelle arrived at Narita International Airport on a flight from Montreal. He was quoted by police as saying he did not know the suitcases contained drugs. Isabelle claimed he was paid a large sum from an individual in Canada who asked him to bring the suitcases to Japan.
The seizure is the largest from the luggage of a passenger on record in Japan.
Incredibly, that wasn't the only incident involving a Canadian.
Narita International Airport Police said they arrested Vancouver native Linda Clark, 57, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 16.75 kilograms of the same drug through the same airport on the same day.
Clark arrived in Japan on a flight from Vancouver.
The combined seizure represents 90 percent of the drugs that were confiscated at the airport for all of 2018.
Right now police do not suspect the cases are related.