The driving force of the Gurpreet Singh truck has not returned home to Canada since June 13. That morning, just before four in the morning, he put his vehicle’s semitrailer in an inspection lane at the U. S. Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo, New York. documents to the US Customs and Border Protection officer. And he testified that he was carrying a load of mob to Virginia. A secondary inspection later revealed more than 3,000 pounds of alleged marijuana value of $5 million.
“Did you have any drugs there?” Singh asked CBP officials after handcuffing him, according to an affidavit from a national security investigative officer filed in federal court in June.
Unable to succeed in Singh that day, his circle of relatives has worried. His ex-wife reported his fault to local police in Canada, according to documents filed in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of New York. who had been arrested.
Singh, a driving force of Canadian airline Trans King at the time, was arrested amid a wave of drug seizures on Canadian trucks on the US border. U. S. , since it was closed as non-essential due to the COVID-19 pandemic. on the Bridge of Peace.
More than three months later, Singh’s lawyers, prominent defense attorneys and criminals Paul Cambria and Justin Ginter, are calling for their release from U. S. federal detention as their case moves toward imaginable trial. His circle of family and friends raised $100,000 as a proposed bond. according to a record registered on September 21.
“The circle of family and friends of M. La Singh are not wealthy individuals,” Ginter wrote in the record. “They used their savings and borrowed to raise that amount. Mr. Singh would not put his circle of family and friends in a position where they may lose their savings by not returning to court.
Cambria and Ginter did not respond to FreightWaves’ request for comment, but Cambria’s retention, in particular, suggests that the driving force of the truck intends to mount a defense. adding pornography mogul Larry Flynt and DMX wrapping.
Federal prosecutors seek to keep Singh in custody, alleging that he knowingly participated in a drug trafficking operation and poses a threat of flight if he is allowed to return to Canada, where he is a permanent resident, and emphasize his Indian citizenship. and ties there, adding his wife.
“And we can’t do much to prevent it. Nothing, especially without any ability to oversee it from the U. S. parole office,” U. S. Deputy Prosecutor Michael Adler said at a hearing in July.
In June, a ruling agreed to release Singh on a $31,000 bond provided through his father in India, less than the $100,000 originally proposed.
Prosecutors overturned the resolution, but they still have to keep Singh in custody, even on bail.
The amount of marijuana in Singh’s case, though considerable, was not the largest seizure of a tow tractor on the Canada-U. S. border during the summer. CBP officials intercepted a $20 million shipment, also on the Peace Bridge. Federal prosecutors withdrew the fees opposed to the driving force of the case, which he argued had no knowledge of marijuana in his sealed trailer.
The CBP officer who first met Singh on the inspection track had suspicions about the driving force and his cargo, according to HSI’s complaint. The CBP agent learned through an internet search that the recipient in Virginia of the mob closed the day Singh announced that he planned to deliver it, according to the complaint.
In addition to the officer’s suspicions, another Trans King driving force had been arrested less than two weeks earlier at the same border crossing after 1,700 pounds of marijuana was discovered in a trailer, according to the complaint. trailer for secondary inspection.
CBP officials discovered more than 3,300 pounds of marijuana as a valid load of mob, the complaint says.
Singh first agreed to cooperate with investigators after marijuana was discovered, according to the complaint. He told investigators that some other driving force was provided from his carrier when he regained his semi-trailer and was asked to retrieve the owner’s manifesto. ‘house, according to the complaint.
While investigators spoke with the driving force of the truck, a search of his phone revealed a series of short and missed calls, according to the complaint. Singh explained that some of the calls came here from the partner’s driving force in his carrier’s yard, while others he said he can only explain, according to the complaint.
Singh also agreed to make monitored phone calls to the two numbers in the presence of investigators, but replaced his brain and sought out a lawyer, according to the complaint.
The owner of Trans King did not respond to a voice message sent through FreightWaves, but at a hearing in July, Adler, the US assistant attorney for the United States, said. The U. S. , said the semi-trailer was stolen and the owner said Singh had done an unauthorized act at the time.
No trial date has been set and the maximum evidence that prosecutors have accumulated is covered by a protective order. But, based on court documents made public and summer hearings, a central question is whether Singh: “Did you place drugs there?”- equivalent to admission of guilt.
The federal prosecutor in charge of the case indicated that the original seal placed through the peat magazine was additional evidence of guilt. Singh’s attorney at the time noted that the trailer had a stamp, but not the original.
“That doesn’t mean Mr. Singh sealed it,” defense attorney Jermy Schwartz said at a hearing in July.
Trailer seals can be very important in cases of cross-border smuggling. The presence of an original seal on a cargo can help at the place where the contraband was loaded and potentially acquit the trucker from any crime.
It remains to be seen whether Singh will be able to return to Canada pending trial, but a trial on the most recent bail proposal has not yet been issued.
Click for more articles on FreightWaves through Nate Tabak
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