Brampton truck driver sentenced in absentia after fleeing before sentencing in $7.5M cross-border drug case

A Brampton truck driver convicted in a cross-border drug smuggling case involving an estimated $7.5 million worth of cocaine and heroin is believed to have fled Canada days before he was scheduled to be sentenced.

According to court records and published reports, Charanpreet Singh was arrested on April 8, 2022, after Canada Border Services Agency officers allegedly discovered 55 kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of heroin inside a commercial transport truck at the Blue Water Bridge border crossing between the United States and Canada. Authorities estimated the seized drugs had an international street value of approximately $7.5 million.

Reports indicate Singh was released on $65,000 bail while awaiting sentencing and was ordered to live with his sister in Brampton under strict conditions, including wearing a GPS ankle monitor. In the final week of June, four days before his sentencing hearing, he allegedly cut off the monitoring device and fled. His passport had previously been seized as part of his release conditions.

Ontario Superior Court Justice George King found Singh guilty in February on four counts related to drug importation and trafficking. On June 24, the court sentenced him in absentia to 15 years in prison after he failed to appear.

Authorities have not publicly explained how Singh is believed to have left Canada without a passport, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. Efforts to locate him are ongoing.