Drug smuggling case headed to trial next year
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on March 1, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A Calgary man accused of trying to smuggle millions of dollars worth of drugs into Alberta in 2020, is scheduled to stand trial, but not until next year.Amarpreet Singh Sandhu is set to stand trial by a judge without a jury Jan. 9-20, 2023 in Court of Queen’s Bench.
The matter was in Queen’s Bench Monday, where Calgary lawyer Allan Fay also pointed out a case management meeting has been scheduled for April 4 to discuss trial issues.
Sandhu, who is not in custody and was not required to attend Monday’s hearing, was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary hearing last December. The 39-year-old accused is charged with drug smuggling and drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The charges relate to a record haul of methamphetamine that officers with the Canada Border Services Agency uncovered at the Coutts border on Christmas Day of 2020.
Officers referred a semi-truck hauling produce for further inspection, and while examining the shipment found 228 kilograms of methamphetamine. The CBSA reported the drugs were worth about $28.5 million on the street and are equivalent to 2.28 million individual dosages.
The agency said at the time, the bust was the largest seizure of methamphetamine at a land border crossing in Canada.
“It is because of CBSA officers’ diligence while screening essential goods that this record amount of methamphetamine did not reach our streets or cause harm to our communities,” Ben Tame, CBSA southern Alberta director, said in a news release following the drug bust. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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