CHANDIGARH: A 33-year-old Indian-origin Sikh truck driver from Toronto-area has been convicted by a court in Ontario of Canada of importing nearly 40 kg cocaine worth up to $4.8 million into the country through the Blue Water Bridge in April 2024.
The alleged accused, Ranjit Singh, was found guilty of importing a controlled substance and possessing it for the purpose of trafficking by Ontario Superior Court Justice Scott Pratt on Monday. The judge delivered his verdict after a three-week trial held in Sarnia in June. Justice Pratt said he did not believe Singh's account, pointing to several inconsistencies in his testimony.
The judge said he was satisfied Singh likely received the cocaine from another driver at the travel centre, as the Crown argued, but it was immaterial when he got the drugs. They were in his possession when he entered Canada and he knew they were in the trailer, Pratt said.
Singh had pleaded not guilty to both charges. The case pertains to the seizure of 40 kg of cocaine, valued at between $3.6 million and $4.8 million, from two boxes found in his truck on the Canadian side of the Blue Water Bridge on April 26, 2024.
At trial, the Crown alleged Singh got bricks of cocaine from another truck at a Pilot Travel Center in Channahon, Ill., bought cardboard boxes at a Home Depot in Shorewood, Ill., then boxed up the drugs and loaded them on his trailer in a yard on Sanders Road in Lansing, Mich. The boxes were wrapped into a pallet of other goods.
He then allegedly purchased cardboard boxes from a Home Depot store in Shorewood, Illinois, packed the drugs and loaded them onto his trailer at a yard on Sanders Road in Lansing, Michigan. The boxes were subsequently concealed within a pallet of other goods.
Singh agreed drugs were found in his trailer at the Blue Water Bridge, but said they weren’t given to him and he doesn’t know how they got there.
He was told by his company owner to buy the Home Depot boxes and leave them with another truck at the Michigan yard. While there, he saw a man he didn’t know and left his truck unattended for 10 to 15 minutes while he went to the bathroom, he said.
Singh denied the allegations, maintaining that although the cocaine was found in his trailer, he had neither been given the drugs nor knew how they had ended up there.
Singh, who was released on $200,000 bail in early May 2024, will remain out on bail pending sentencing. The sentencing hearing has been scheduled for February.