Your Singhs today (US-Canada border edition)

Today's Singh-along features another chapter of the all-too-familiar tale of Sikhs... well, just one, this time... involved in smuggling drugs across the World's Longest Undefended Border (TM). 

The Canadian Border Services Agency (the equivalent of the US CBP) officers are hooking their thumbs under their suspenders today for having derailed a whopping $42 million beaverbucks worth of cocaine flooding into Canuckistan in two separate busts in August.

The seizures occurred one day apart at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry in Point Edward, near Sarnia, in early August. On the 13th of August, a commercial truck belonging to Diversity Truck Lines* [Ed., please check this] arriving from the US of A was referred for a secondary examination. 

During the trailer inspection, CBSA officers discovered suspected cocaine hidden in six boxes. The total weight of the narcotics was 150 kilos, with an estimated street value of $18.8 million ($13.6 million in real money). Gurjeet Singh, 28, of... wait for it... Brampton ON, was arrested and transferred along with the narcotics to the custody of the RCMP. 

The next day, border officers referred another tractor-trailer entering from the US for a secondary examination. Officers found 199 kilos of suspected cocaine in the trailer of the commercial load, with an estimated value of $24.9 million. Abdikadir Egal, 38, of Etobicoke, was transferred along with the drugs to the RCMP. To judge by his name, Mr Egal is not a Sikh, but a Somali -- a "refugee", no doubt. recruited by the usual suspects from the Singh School of Truck Driving.

Both men have been charged by the Mounties with importation of cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking under the controlled drugs and substances act. The investigations are ongoing, as they say.

Canuckistan's Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree (no relation) was quick to issue a statement which he hopes will be read by President Trump, as follows: "These recent seizures of illegal narcotics underscore the vital partnership between the CBSA and the RCMP in protecting Canada’s borders. I have visited the Blue Water Bridge and seen up close the unwavering commitment and diligence from the CBSA and RCMP, and their respective leadership in stopping the entry of illegal substances and goods into Canada. Their work makes all of us safer."

Walt says, hold your applause. There's lots more drugs and smugglers of which we'll Singh in due course.

* Thanks to BCF for identifying the trucking company. and to DM, a commenter on BCF, for the info on Mr Egal's nationality. Most Somalis are Muslim, by the way. How's that for the diversity that makes Canada what it is.

Canuck cops, paramedics nominated for group Darwin Award

What you see here is the scene of a joint training exercise, held earlier today in Kanata ON, involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ottawa Police Department, and a group of "tactical paramedics". The demonstration of "How to make a forced entry into a building" resulted in serious injuries to two of Ottawa's finest and one of the paramedics.

"Forced entries" are any entries that require more than a simple door-opening, of which all police officers are assumed to be capable. If that doesn't work, the "tactical units" -- SWAT teams, if you like -- could use a battering ram or a vehicle to force their way through a barrier. Or they could use a "controlled explosion"...if they knew how to control an explosion, which is what they were supposed to be learning today.

"Tactical paramedics" are trained, in events such as today's, for high-risk scenarios such as executing warrants, scenes where an active shooter is present, or dealing with a hostage-taking. Regular paramedics generally don’t go into these dangerous scenes until police have cleared the affected area, but tactical paramedics follow police in and quickly begin assessing the situation, dealing with injured people they encounter and administering aid.

To provide "a more real-life training experience", police seek out locations with abandoned buildings, such as the one shown, where the property owner allows them to play with fire, possibly in hopes of collecting an insurance settlement. Today's exercise got way too real, as an apparently uncontrolled explosion sent three paramedics and two cops to hospital.

Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau said he couldn't comment on what might have caused the blast, since the training was being conducted under "very stringent safety protocols". The RCMP and Ottawa police are investigating each other, and the Ontario Special Investigations Unit has been called in to investigate the whole lot of them.

Until responsibility for the, errr, unfortunate accident has been properly apportioned, Walt has no choice but to nominate all participants, as a group, for a Darwin Awards Honourable Mention. Well done, those men!

Note to Agent 17: To qualify for a full Darwin Award (with bar), the surivor(s) of an incident such as this must be blown up again... and again... until dead.