Barrie transport truck driver, Niagara border guard accused of smuggling millions in drugs, tobacco from U.S.

A Barrie man remains behind bars accused of conspiracy to import millions in drugs and contraband tobacco along with a Niagara Canada Border Services officer.

A Barrie, Ont. man remains behind bars accused of conspiracy to import millions in drugs and contraband tobacco along with a Niagara Canada Border Services officer.

The two men appeared in a St. Catharines virtual courtroom one month after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced the charges against them.

Barrie transport truck driver, Abhishek Abhishek, 32, is accused of conspiracy to import millions of dollars worth of opium, cannabis, and contraband tobacco from the U.S. earlier this year. Police also charged 40-year-old Daniel Notarianni, a longtime Canada Border Services officer who was working at the Queenston-Lewiston bridge border crossing in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

• Border officer charged after truck full of opium, cannabis, tobacco crosses into Ontario: RCMP

Notarianni, who just last year received an exemplary service award from the Governor General of Canada, was charged alongside Abhishek in January according to the RCMP when it is alleged police found Notarianni allowed a transport truck filled with drugs and tobacco to cross the border into Niagara Region. The RCMP said the veteran border services officer “did not follow CBSA policy” when he allowed a truck filled with contraband to enter Canada.

Abhishek appeared in court Thursday by phone from the Niagara Detention Centre where he remains behind bars. Notarianni, was granted bail last month. He was then charged with criminal breach of trust and released again from custody, the court heard.

Abhishek faces several charges that include conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, importing and exporting a substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and distributing drugs, and trafficking contraband tobacco.

The accused are scheduled to return to a St. Catharines courtroom next week. The allegations against them have not been tested in court.