A Winnipeg court heard why Canadian border officers decided to search a semi-trailer carrying cocaine hidden by loads of corn in a commercial truck that crossed the Manitoba border two years ago.

Varinder Kaushik, 32, pleaded not guilty on Monday to unlawfully possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, unlawfully importing cocaine, laundering proceeds of crime, and unlawfully possessing the proceeds of crime in the form of Canadian currency over $5,000.

Kaushik was charged after border services officers found 63 kilograms of cocaine — worth an estimated $6 million dollars — hidden in his commercial semi-trailer after he attempted to cross into Manitoba at the Emerson point of entry in July 2023.

The Canadian Border Services Agency said at the time that it was their largest seizu

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