Trucker smuggles 500 booze bottles into Canada leading to $30K fine for Brampton driver: report

Fines have been laid against two truckers including one from Brampton that smuggled more than $14,000 worth of alcohol into Canada.

According to reports both incidents happened on July 10 at the Blue Water Bridge, one of the busiest border crossings connecting the U.S. with southern Ontario.

That’s when Canada Border Services Agency searched the cab of a transport truck and found more than 528 bottles of alcohol stashed “from floor to ceiling using every available space and held in place with ratchet straps,” according to Postmedia.

The truck was driven by 56-year-old Veerapathira Maniyakaghan of Brampton, who declared one bottle of liquor when crossing onto the Canadian side of the bridge.

Maniyakaghan had receipts showing the stash was worth some US$14,000, which would have led to more than $24,300 in duty fees.

Then later that day, Ottawa truck driver Senthuran Kandasamy was found with 72 bottles of liquor at the same crossing after telling border officers he had no alcohol to declare.

Both truckers have since been fined. Maniyakaghan, 56, of Brampton has been ordered to pay $30,000 while Kandasamy, 36, of Ottawa was fined $7,500 after both pleaded guilty to smuggling under the Customs Act, according to reports.