Don't know about a drip canister, on the passenger side firewall of USDM cars there is a large cylinder that is the charcoal canister. If fuel is getting into it, you have some tank issues. Normally no fuel would be able to get to it. Most common way is to overfill your gas tank which then floods the ventilation system of the gas tank. If the car was rolled over it might also get fuel into that way, or parking at extreme angles/dropping the nose of the car off a high curb/freight terminal.

What's the history of the car?