TORONTO -- The RCMP are hunting for two Pearson airport workers who are suspected of ditching 140 kilos of cocaine worth $12 million to avoid arrest.

The two bags of dope were found among unclaimed luggage last Thursday at Terminal 3, the Mounties said.

The cocaine is believed to have arrived on a flight from the Caribbean to be smuggled out of Pearson by ramp handlers, officials said.

Two workers dropped the bags and bolted as customs officers approached, security officials said.

Members of an RCMP drug squad are poring through videotape from airport security cameras to try to identify the culprits.

RCMP Sgt. Mia Poscente confirmed more than 100 kilos of cocaine and some marijuana were found in bags at the terminal.

"It is safe to assume that inside workers are connected to this sort of activity," she said.

Anna Pape of the Canada Border Services Agency refused to comment on the seizure, citing the ongoing probe.

Drug gangs place suitcases filled with dope on flights to Pearson, police said.

The RCMP two weeks ago seized more than 100 kilos of heroin, much of it smuggled through Pearson from Afghanistan.

TOM.GODFREY@SUNMEDIA.CA