Sailboat Perhaps from Panama Intercepted in Canadian Waters

Yesterday, heavily armed members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intercepted 40-foot sailboat, believed to be from Panama, The Province reports.

The sailboat crew did not properly identify itself leading the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to suspect that it was smuggling contraband.

Mark Proulx, maritime coordinator at the Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Center, said the sailors indicated they were coming from Panama and gave a false registration for the vessel.  He also said that it is not common for a vessel to travel from Central America to Port Hardy without stopping in Tofino or Victoria.

Port Hardy is located on the northern end of Vancouver Island and was named after  Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy who, as captain of the H.M.S. Victory, held the dying Lord Nelson in his arms at the end of the Battle of Trafalgar.

The investigation into the smuggling is ongoing.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police