Calgary Airport: Cannabis Seizures Escalate

CALGARY — Border agents grabbed 17 kilograms of cannabis from luggage at Calgary International Airport on January 21, 2026. Someone thought they'd ship it to Germany. They were wrong.

The Canada Border Services Agency didn't name names. No charges announced yet. No suspect details. Just another duffel bag full of weed that didn't make its flight.

Calgary Has a Cannabis Export Problem

This isn't new. In July 2025, the CBSA reported seizing over 160 kg of cannabis at YYC in the preceding 12 months—most of it bound for overseas. A traveler from Hong Kong got caught with 17.5 kg back in May 2025.

Nationally, border agents recorded 13,431 cannabis seizures totaling 42,439 kg in 2025. That's a lot of product looking for exit doors.

The Math Makes Sense for Smugglers

Here's why Calgary keeps seeing this: Canada grew too much legal cannabis. Prices tanked domestically. Europe? Still expensive. That 17 kg could fetch over €200,000 (roughly CAD $295,000) on German streets, where retail hits €12 per gram.

Organized crime spotted the arbitrage opportunity. Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) knows groups are working this angle, but hasn't publicly identified which networks are running the Calgary-to-Europe pipeline.

Ottawa Throws Money at the Border

The federal government allocated $617.7 million over five years in its October 2025 budget to hire up to 1,000 new CBSA officers. They even bumped recruit stipends to $525 weekly to sweeten the deal.

Under Section 11 of the federal Cannabis Act, exporting cannabis without a Health Canada permit can land you 14 years in prison. The Customs Act lets border agents hit smugglers with fines between $200 and $2,000 for undeclared cannabis, though clearly that's not stopping anyone betting on six-figure European paydays.

The CBSA Prairie Region, run by Regional Director General Janalee Bell-Boychuk, will fold this seizure into its operational reports. Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree and CBSA President Erin O'Gorman keep saying the new funding will crack down on cross-border crime.

Whether 1,000 more officers can plug a market incentive this big remains the open question.