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A truck driver is free on bail while three others, including the head of a Brampton trucking firm, charged with conspiracy to import cocaine remain in custody after a Blue Water Bridge drug bust officials have valued at
Canadian border officers at the bridge between the Sarnia area and Michigan found about 460 kilograms – almost half a tonne – of cocaine packaged in bricks in a trailer being hauled by a suspect on June 11, an RCMP spokesperson said. The weight of the drugs includes the packaging, with an estimated street value of $5.5 million, the spokesperson said.
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The probe, which uncovered the cocaine in 27 bags, started June 11 and continued into June 12, a Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson said.
Jasdeep Brar, 34, of Brampton was charged with importing cocaine and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, court documents said. Three more people – Inderpreet Singh, 26, Manideep Singh, 26, and Beant Bhatti, 35, all from the Toronto area – were arrested several days later and charged with the same two offences, along with an additional count of conspiracy to import cocaine, records show.
Brar is also now facing the conspiracy charge, which is dated from April 15 to June 15.
The RCMP spokesperson declined to provide any information about the three additional accused and the conspiracy charge they all now face.
After a full-day bail hearing for Brar on June 20, justice of the peace Kelly Jackson returned with her decision on June 24 and ordered his release. The reasons for her decision, and evidence heard at the hearing, are banned from publication until the trial is over.
Brar’s bail plan could cost up to $50,000 if any of its provisions are violated. They include full house arrest with GPS tracking. He can only leave home if he’s with one of his two sureties, going to the hospital or to court, and he can’t leave Ontario. His passport must be surrendered to the RCMP and he can’t be in the care or control of a commercial vehicle.
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Brar’s case returns to court Sept. 4.
Bhatti, who is listed as the key principle for Brampton-based Royal Bhatti Transport Inc. on a
Inderpreet Singh and Manideep Singh are being held in custody at the Sarnia Jail as their lawyers work to set up bail plans. They’ll return to court next week.
All four accused are banned from talking to each other.
This is the third tractor-trailer drug smuggling case linked to the Canadian side of the Blue Water Bridge this year. Two drivers in their 30s, both from Toronto, were
and April, respectively, also with importing cocaine. They both were granted bail, the latter
There have been at least 16 major drug busts – all but one involved trucks – on the Sarnia-area side since 2019. The majority of the cases were tied to cocaine, but border officers have also seized heroin and methamphetamine.
Just last week a Toronto trucker was
$3.6 million of cocaine across the bridge in 2022 and will be sentenced later this fall. A Brampton trucker was recently sentenced to
and a non-trucker from Brantford was also
On Friday, a 26-year-old Brampton trucker was
of all the charges he was facing linked to a $47-million drug bust at the bridge in January 2022.
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