The seizure of $4.3 million US worth of cocaine near the Canada-U.S. border last week has led to the discovery of a large cache of firearms and ammunition at a home in the tiny community of Midway in B.C.'s Southern Interior, the RCMP said.

American officials arrested B.C. union leader Perley Holmes in Washington state just south of Grand Forks, B.C., alleging he was trying to smuggle 61 kilograms of cocaine back into Canada.
 
Holmes, 50, is in jail in Spokane, Wash., where he faces a charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

The RCMP said the investigation began after an American border patrol agent started following tire tracks in the snow heading toward the Canadian border.

The agent then found footprints that led him to two men trying to hide under bushes, with two backpacks filled with the cocaine, the RCMP said.

The agent held down one suspect while the other man took off on foot towards Canada, the RCMP said. Neither American nor Canadian officials have been able to track down the second man.

However, the U.S. border control passed its information on to the RCMP, and officers found tracks in the snow near where the men had been trying to cross the border.

The tracks led to the house in Midway, where the firearms were found, said Cpl. Norm Massie of the RCMP border integrity unit.
 
"The investigators are still investigating the origin, the registration and any information they can find out on each of the individual firearms," Massie said.
 
So far, no weapons charges have been laid.