Within the last month, the Canada Border Services Agency has seized three shipments of illicit fentanyl from China, including a massive shipment that was bound for Toronto, VICE News has learned.

These seizures come as police forces and public health officials battle the scourge of fentanyl overdoses across the country, especially in British Columbia and Alberta. And the package intercepted in Toronto further signals that the deadly trend of the drug that's 40 to 50 times stronger than heroin has taken root in Ontario, and other eastern provinces.

According to CBSA statistics obtained by VICE News from May 13 to June 13, border agents seized 50.5 grams of fentanyl at the international mail centre in Vancouver, 110 grams at the international cargo airport in Montreal, and 1,000 grams (1kg) at the CBSA mail centre in Toronto — all coming from China. A kilogram of fentanyl is worth more than a million dollars.

A scene from Dopesick, an upcoming documentary being released on June 22.

The fact that some of the shipments were intercepted at commercial points of entry suggests that the fentanyl was intended for wholesale distribution.

CBSA would not release any further information about the products seized — including which provinces in China the packages originated from — but a spokesperson told VICE News the agency only began tracking fentanyl seizures separate from the overall drugs category this year.

A number of police forces have been sounding the alarm over illicit fentanyl getting through Canada's borders. Last August, a CBSA officer at the Vancouver international mail centre intercepted a package containing fentanyl powder destined for a Calgary resident. At the time, the CBSA did not specify where the package came from, but Calgary police said in a press release that "it's believed powdered fentanyl is being imported from China through online sales."

Police forces across the country have been routinely seizing fentanyl and labs manufacturing the substance to sell on the black market. The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) uncovered a shipment of 2,000 fentanyl pills inside a car in Edmonton earlier this week, the biggest fentanyl bust yet in the city.

In April, police in Quebec City seized $1.5 million worth of fentanyl powder and pills after a series of drug busts across the city. Police told reports that two types of tablets were found: one with the inscription A215, also known as "petite bleue," and the other with the inscription CDN100.