Trucker accused of smuggling cocaine via Blue Water Bridge seeks lease

Trucker accused of smuggling cocaine via Blue Water Bridge seeks

A long bail hearing will continue this week in Sarnia for an Ontario trucker accused of smuggling millions of dollars of cocaine into Canada via the Blue Water Bridge.

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Ranjit Singh, 31, of the Toronto area, is charged with importing cocaine and possessing cocaine for trafficking after an April 26 incident on the Canadian side of the twin-span bridge linking Michigan and the Sarnia area, court documents say.

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Requests for additional information were sent Monday to the Canada Border Services Agency and RCMP, but a response wasn’t available by press time.

Singh’s bail hearing, which has been slowed by the need for a Punjabi interpreter, started last Wednesday, continued Thursday, and will resume Wednesday. Most of what has been said at the hearing is covered by a publication ban in effect until his trial is over.

The twin spans of the Blue Water Bridge connect Sarnia’s neighbor, Point Edward, on the Ontario side of the St. Clair River with Port Huron, Mich. The eastbound span is to close temporarily late this month for maintenance and reopen in October. (Files) Photo by Paul Morden /The Observer

Singh is at least the 16thth person – all but one truckers – accused of smuggling illegal drugs into Canada via the twin-span bridge, which is partly closing soon for construction, since 2019. Most cases were tied to cocaine, but border officers also have seized heroin and methamphetamine.

Most of those cases are still before the courts in Sarnia, including one that recently resulted in a deadlocked jury, but two have recently concluded featuring an 11-year prison term and all charges being dropped.

The lone non-trucker, a Brantford man caught in 2019 with $5 million worth of cocaine in a secret compartment in his personal SUV, recently was also sentenced to 11 years in prison.

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@ObserverTerry

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