Indian-origin Canadian man charged with drug-smuggling

A 33-year-old Indian-origin Canadian man has been charged with cross-border drug smuggling in one of the largest cocaine seizures in the US' history.

Gursharan Singh, who hails from Brampton, Ontario and is one of six men charged with smuggling operation, pleaded guilty yesterday before senior US District Judge William M Skretny in federal court in Buffalo for transporting large amounts of cocaine and marijuana across the US-Canadian border.

Singh was charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute five kilogrammes or more of cocaine. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a USD 10 million fine and will be sentenced on November 16.

Prosecutors said Singh was part of a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into Canada from the US via several international bridges, including those in the Buffalo-Niagara region, 'The Buffalo News' reported.

Investigators believe the group smuggled approximately 2,000 kilogrammes of cocaine between 2007 and May 2011.

Officials said the case involved the largest seizure of cocaine in the history of the US Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York, the report said.

Singh was indicted with Alvin Randhawa and Harinder Dhaliwal in February last year on charges of conspiracy to export cocaine, attempt to export cocaine, conspiracy to import marijuana and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to the US Attorney's Office.

While Randhawa and Dhaliwal are still facing charges, the other three charged in the conspiracy - Ravinder Arora, Michael Bagri and Parminder Sidhu - have all been convicted.