A truck driver entering Canada at the Blue Water Bridge last week was arrested after more than $5 million worth of cocaine was seized.
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Border officers on the Canadian side of the twin-span bridge connecting the Sarnia area and Michigan found about 460 kilograms of cocaine packaged in bricks in a trailer last Wednesday, an RCMP spokesperson said Monday in an email. The weight is approximate and includes the packaging, but the estimated street value is $5.5 million, the spokesperson said.
“This is a conservative number representing the sale of the cocaine at the kilogram level,” Jean Turner said.
A Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson added the investigation, which started late Tuesday night and continued into early Wednesday morning, located 27 bags of suspected cocaine.
Jasdeep Brar, 34, is charged with importing cocaine and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, court documents say. Brar is being held at the Sarnia Jail and has made a couple of appearances in court, including Monday, as his lawyer attempts to set up a bail hearing.
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He’ll be back in court again Tuesday for an update on when that might be. It’s expected to be a lengthy hearing as everything said will need to be translated to Punjabi.
Brar is the third trucker charged with drug smuggling on the Canadian side of the Blue Water Bridge this year. Two drivers in their 30s, both from Toronto, were charged in March and April, respectively, with importing cocaine. They both were granted lease, the latter for $200,000.
Seventeen people – all but one were truckers – have been charged in the Sarnia area since 2019. Most of the cases were tied to cocaine, but border officers also have seized heroin and methamphetamine.
The majority of the trucker importing cases are still before the courts in Sarnia, including one recently that resulted in a deadlocked jury. Another trucker recently was sentenced to 11 years in prison and another was cleared of all charges. 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 sentenced to 11 years in prison.
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