The border crossing of Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, in Montérégie, was closed for several hours, Thursday evening, due to a suspicious object which ultimately proved to be non-dangerous, confirmed the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) .
The SQ had been called around 6:30 p.m. by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) concerning a “suspicious package” on board a vehicle. Explosives technicians from the police force went on site to carry out checks.
Shortly before 11 p.m., the SQ indicated that the suspicious object which could resemble an explosive device “represents no danger”. The reopening of the border crossing was to “be done ‘imminently by the CBSA’”, according to the police service.
Explosives technicians were called to the scene. Around 10:30 p.m., customs was deemed secure, Tremblay said. However, he could not give more information on the contents of the package or the time of reopening of customs.
Indeed, for the duration of the operations, the border crossing between Quebec and the United States at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, in Montérégie, was closed in both directions.
“The health and safety of the public and our officers are of the utmost importance to the Canada Border Services Agency,” said Maria Ladouceur, spokesperson for the federal institution, by email.
Trucker Lilian Furnica got stuck in the parking lot of the Shell gas station around 8:30 p.m. He was on his way to bring washed laundry in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu to hospitals in the United States.
“The parking lot here is full, there is no more space. There is another parking lot a little further, and it was also already full. Here they closed with cones,” he described.
At the time of speaking to us, he had decided to wait and hope for the reopening of customs rather than changing the documentation to cross at another border post. Indeed, commercial traffic is diverted to St-Armand/Philipsburg customs.
People wishing to go to or from the United States must go through another entrance, either Route 223, Route 221 or go to Hemmingford.
With The Canadian Press