Northwest Territories RCMP are hailing what they say is the largest cocaine bust in the history of the territory.
According to police, it happened on Highway 3 in N.W.T. on Oct. 26 when officers from the Behchoko detachment pulled over a car registered in B.C. The officers started to believe the driver was involved in drug trafficking and the suspect was arrested at the scene.
Investigators who arrived found six vacuum-sealed packages of what police believed contained illegal drugs along with various drug paraphernalia.
Once the packages were tested, five of them were found to be holding 5.4 kg worth of cocaine. The sixth package contained what police stated was an unknown substance weighing around 1 kg.
RCMP stated that further testing will be done to determine what exactly the substance is.
As a result, Akashdeep Dhillon, 39, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. He appeared before a Justice of the Peace and was remanded into custody with his next court appearance scheduled for Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Police say the investigation is ongoing with help from the Territorial Crime Reduction Unit.