Punjabi trucker Pardeep Singh arrested in Canada for smuggling cocaine
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Jul, 2021 01:50 PM
A Punjabi trucker has been arrested in Canada for smuggling about 112.5 kg of cocaine into the country from the US.
Pardeep Singh, 24, who is a resident of LaSalle in Quebec, was caught when his truck entered Fort Erie in Canada from the US.
When Singh's truck was referred for a secondary examination, border inspectors found about 112.5 kg of cocaine hidden inside five duffle bags.
The market value of the seized drug haul is about $14 million.
Singh was arrested and handed over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
He will appear in court on Friday to face charges.
Scores of Punjabi men have been arrested recently for smuggling drugs into Canada.
In June, nine Toronto-area Punjabi men were arrested when police forces busted a 20-member drug cartel and seized drugs worth over $61 million from them.
In April, 25 Punjabi men from Brampton were arrested as part of a drug gang which was smuggling cocaine into Canada and distributing it throughout the country through its underground network.
In January, Punjabi trucker Amarpreet Singh Sandhu of Calgary created a smuggling record when he was arrested with 228.14 kg of methamphetamine worth $28.5 million in the market.
The head of the World Health Organization said the COVID-19 delta variant, first seen in India, is “the most transmissible of the variants identified so far,” and warned it is now spreading in at least 85 countries.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can have dinner together inside someone's house without having to keep their distance or wear a mask.
The man who killed a 13-year-old girl and injured her friend at a high school in Abbotsford, B.C., has been asked to read the victim impact statements related to his crime before he addresses the court.
Temperatures into the 40s are expected for many parts of B.C., as the weather office says an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure has parked over the province and likely won't budge until after Canada Day.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says this Canada Day should be a time of reflection. His comments come the day after a First Nation in Saskatchewan announced ground-penetrating radar had detected what are believed to be 751 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school.
Dr. Ash Singhal of B.C. Children's Hospital said it's also the provincial government's responsibility to change the building code so windows in homes can't be opened enough for young children to tumble out.