Canadian police attempted to clear one of several bridges in the US blocked by a Freedom Convoy, nearly collided with a tractor trailer, and confiscating a large cache of weapons, ammunition and body armor.
The Royal Canadian Mountain Police said on Monday that eleven people linked to an anti-vaccination mandate preventing cross-border travel in Canada had been arrested in the Alberta village of Coutts.
Those arrested were described by police as ‘a small organized group within the larger Coutts protest’, and were blocking the crossing from Coutts, population 245 people, in Sweet Grass, montana for a week.
David McLean, vice president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said Cotts Crossing sees $44 million ($35 million) per day in two-way trade.
“The Alberta RCMP recently became aware of a small organized group within the larger Coutts protest,” he said in a statement.
“It was reported that this group has a stockpile of firearms along with a large quantity of ammunition.
The group is said to wish to use force against the police if any attempt was made to disrupt the blockade. This resulted in an urgent and complex investigation to determine the extent of the threat and criminal organization.’
Protesters are seen at the Coutts, Alberta crossing in the first blockade. Protesters have been dispersed and 11 people were arrested after weapons were found in the early hours of Monday
Police stand near the US-Canada border in Alberta, where protests have been going on for a week
Truck drivers are seen blocking the border between the US and Canada in Alberta
Three crossings are now blocked, the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit being the most important for business.
In the early hours of Monday, the RCMP raided three trailers equipped with search warrants and arrested 11.
Police have found 13 long guns, grenades, several sets of body armor and a knife.
They said they had seized a large quantity of ammunition and high-capacity magazines.
Officials are now looking for the driver of the tractor trailer, who tried to hit the police vehicle.
The RCMP said the attack was “an example of the extremist mindset of a small section of the protest”.
He said the vehicles of the protesters involved were a large farm tractor and a semi truck, both of which were involved in the blockade.
The driver of the police vehicle turned to avoid a collision, and officers chased the suspects to the spot where protesters were gathering. The involved farm tractor and semi-truck have been confiscated, and the driver has been identified as the police.
A Canadian truck driver blocks the border near Alberta’s Couts
The finance minister said the Coutts protest, which lasted a week, cost the country CA$48 million a day in lost trade.
As unrest came in Alberta, 1,750 miles away in Ontario, police were also working to keep the Ambassador Bridge open between Windsor and Detroit, Michigan.
On Monday afternoon, federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland said the border blockade in Coutus was disrupting CA$48 million ($37 million) daily in international trade.
The Emerson, Manitoba, border block cost CA$73 million per day, while the blockade on the Ambassador Bridge cost CA$390 million per day.
The protesters were removed from there on Saturday morning and the police are now patrolling the area to prevent the improvement of the blockade.
Emerson Bridge was also open, but with a considerable delay.