Truck driver acquitted of drug smuggling

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on January 21, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Calgary trucker caught with drugs after he tried to cross into Alberta at the Coutts border two years ago, has been found not guilty of drug smuggling and drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Justice Vaughan Hartigan gave his decision Friday, and acquitted Amarpreet Singh Sandhu following his trial, which began last week in Lethbridge Court of King’s Bench.
Hartigan said although he wasn’t convinced Sandhu was telling the truth, there was still enough doubt in his mind that, based on the evidence, he could not convict the accused.
Sandhu was charged after he arrived at the border on Christmas Day 2020 and his truck and trailer were searched. Border officers found nine boxes in the trailer, which contained 228 kilograms of methamphetamine.
Defence maintained Sandhu didn’t know the drugs were in the tractor trailer when he arrived at the border, and they must have been put into the truck by someone else, without Sandhu’s knowledge, at one of the stops he made on his trip back to Canada after picking up a load of bananas in California.
Sandhu testified he had no idea how the drugs got on his truck or where they came from, and said he was confused when border officers checked inside his trailer and found nine boxes sitting in plain view just inside the doors. He told the officers the boxes weren’t there when he picked up the produce a few days earlier.
Sandhu indirectly implicated the owner of JKS Transport when he testified his boss specifically instructed him not to stop at the town of Primm, Nev. on his way back to Canada, but to stop at the City of Mesquite on the Nevada-Arizona border instead. Sandhu also claimed his boss told him exactly where to stay while he was in Mesquite.
Gurpreet Ghuman, who was called at the last minute to testify and rebut Sandhu’s evidence, said he had nothing to do with the attempt to smuggle the drugs over the border. Ghuman admitted he communicated with Sandhu while he was in California, but denied telling his employee where to stop or stay over.
The implication was ultimately a factor in Hartigan’s decision, however, particularly in light of evidence that another one of Ghuman’s transport trucks was stopped in Montana about 40 days after the border bust, and officers found nearly 113 kilos of cocaine.
Hartigan said he can’t ignore those circumstances, which he concluded to be more than a coincidence.
Crown Prosecutor Kent Brown said following the acquittal that Hartigan made the right decision.
“I think it’s the right decision frankly, based on how all the evidence came out.”

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