Ontario: An Ontario court has convicted a 33-year-old Indian-origin Sikh truck driver of importing nearly 40kg of cocaine, worth an estimated $4.8 million, into Canada through the Blue Water Bridge in April 2024.
Ranjit Singh was found guilty on Monday by Ontario Superior Court Justice Scott Pratt of importing drugs and possessing them for the purpose of trafficking. The verdict followed a three-week trial held in Sarnia in June.
Singh had pleaded not guilty to both charges. The case relates to the seizure of 40kg 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.
Justice Pratt said he did not believe Singh’s account and pointed to several inconsistencies in his testimony.
During the trial, the Crown alleged that Singh had collected bricks of cocaine from another truck at a Pilot Travel Center in Channahon, Illinois. 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 denied the allegations, saying that although cocaine was found in his trailer, he had neither been given the drugs nor known how they got there.
He told the court that the owner of his company had instructed him to purchase the Home Depot boxes and leave them near another truck at the Michigan yard. He also said he had seen an unidentified person there and left his truck unattended for 10 to 15 minutes while using the washroom.
However, the judge accepted the central part of the Crown’s case, saying he was satisfied that Singh had likely received the cocaine from another driver at the travel centre.
The judge added that the exact time Singh received the drugs was not significant, as they were in his possession when he entered Canada and he knew they were inside the trailer.
Singh, who was released on $200,000 bail in early May 2024, will remain on bail until sentencing. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for February.
