Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to mail a large amount of cocaine and ketamine across the country is facing multiple drug-related charges.

Speaking at a news conference at Toronto police headquarters on Friday morning, Insp. Howie Page told reporters that police were first alerted to the packages on May 20 by an employee at a national courier service in the GTA.

Upon receiving the first package, Page said the employee noticed the sender behaving suspiciously and later discovered an unknown powder inside the parcel.

Page said the police service’s drug squad and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Explosives (CBRNE) unit were called in and found the package contained one kilogram of ketamine, an animal tranquilizer that is commonly used as a date rape drug.

As officers were on scene investigating the first package, Page said the suspect returned to the courier service to try to ship another package, which police later discovered contained five kilograms of cocaine. He was immediately taken into custody by officers.

The drugs, which were packaged with paprika in an effort to throw police off, were headed to Edmonton, Page added.

“Persons looking to traffic controlled substances through the mail should be warned that we will go to great lengths to intercept these packages,” he said.

In addition to the drugs, police said they also seized $175,000 in cash that was found inside the suspect’s car.

In an effort to brand the product, Page said the cocaine had an imprint of the Star of David on it.

“We’ve had a number of seizures in the recent months where products are now being marked and it certainly appears to be that they are establishing the identity of their product,” Page said.

Anh Tung Ly, 28, has been charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of possession of proceeds of crime.

Police ask anyone with information about this investigation to call 416-808-6110 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).