Your Singhs today - Part of the Wedding party nabbed at the border

In a story straight out of Border Security, two graduates of the notorious Singh School of Truck Driving -- Ranjit Singh Rowal and Iqbal Singh Virk -- both "Toronto men", have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other federal charges in California, in connection with a transnational drug-smuggling conspiracy, allegedly led by former Team Canada Olympian Ryan Wedding.

The Sikh gentlemen are the first Canadians to sign plea deals with US prosecutors following the FBI's "Operation Giant Slalom", a massive investigation revealed last fall. The probe -- named after Mr Wedding's previous career as an elite snowboarder [snowboarder, geddit? Ed.] -- sought to dismantle his alleged drug trafficking network, which uses commercial transport trucks to move tons of cocaine and fentanyl across North America.

The group has also been linked to at least four murders in Ontario. Mr Wedding, who competed for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Games in Utah, is listed as one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, with a $10-million reward offered for information leading to his capture. Readers may send their tips to Walt at the usual address, and I will definitely pass them on the relevant authorities.

According to documents recently filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, .Messrs Virk and Rowal have each committed to plead guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

They were arrested in August of last year as they tried to cross the Blue Water Bridge from Michigan to Sarnia ON, while carrying 95 kg of cocaine bricks and 20 kg of heroin in a secret compartment in the trailer. 

They attempted to conceal the drugs by carrying legal goods and documentation to show the products were meant to be hauled from the US. to Canada. However, CBP agents pulled their truck over for a secondary inspection, where an X-ray scanner and a sniffer dog revealed the "non-factory" compartment.

CBC News discovered that the trailer was registered to a company based in Brampton ON linked to Mr Rowal. A grand jury indictment unsealed last October named him and Mr Virk -- Indian citizens who hold permanent resident status in Canada -- as well as 14 others as members of Mr Wedding's drug ring. 

The indictment said the pair worked on behalf of a transportation network that handled the gang's shipments to Canada. However, the transnational criminal operation didn't always go smoothly. Court documents reveal an internal dispute in May 2024 led to one big drug shipment being called off. 

According to the plea, Messrs Virk and Rowal pulled over at a rest stop in southern California, expecting to receive a 347-kg load of cocaine. Their truck, however, only had room for 250 kg. Through an intermediary, Mr Wedding purportedly offered to pay C$150,000 (about $108,000 in real money) to move the reduced shipment, instead of the agreed rate of $220,000. 

But Gurpreet Singh, a Sikh and allegedly a leader of the transportation network, wouldn't agree to the cut rate.The shipment was called off. Mr Singh and his uncle, Hardeep Singh Ratte, who are accused of co-ordinating cocaine shipments to Canada for Mr Wedding, both remain in custody in Ontario while facing extradition to the US of A. How difficult it must be at the jail when the guards call for "Singh" and everybody stands up!

CBC News recently reported that a historic drug bust in Peel Region, west of Toronto, mirrored the smuggling route used by the Sikh truckers. Peel police (known locally as "boobies") said it's highly likely the Wedding network remains active in the so-called Greater Toronto Area.

Mr Wedding -- alias "Public Enemy", "Giant", "El Jefe", and "The Boss" -- is said to still trafficking drugs while on the run, and to have access to a network of hitmen. The FBI thinks he may be hiding in... wait for it... Mexico, under the protection of the murderous Sinaloa cartel.

Note from Ed.: This is an edited version of a report by Thomas Daigle, of CBC News. Since the Canadian Broadcorping Castration is funded by Canada's very Liberal government, we assume they don't need any money they might get by suing us.

UPDATED: Your Singhs today - "Brampton man" nabbed at border

Do any of our readers watch Border Security? Regular viewers will know that a lot of the action takes place at the land borders between the Paranoid States of America and the Great No-longer-white North, specifically at the Peace Bridge to Buffalo NY, the Peace Arch near Blaine WA, and the Blue Water Bridge to Port Huron MI. 

At those border crossings, US Customs and Border Protection officers are constantly on the lookout for unemployed frostbacks coming into the USA for work, and big rigs full of drugs. It's the latter that prompted President Trump to impose tough tariffs on Canada, to motivate the feckless Liberal government to do something to put a stop to it.

Who's driving all those drug-laden transports back and forth across the border? Very often it's "men from Brampton", the suburb of Toronto where Sikhs make up the majority of the population, thanks to the Liberals' wish to ensure the never-ending election of turban-winders. 

Many of the many Sikhs driving erratically along the highways of Ontario, Michigan and New York are "temporary foreign students" at the notorious Singh School of Truck Driving, such as Karamveer Singh, not pictured at right.

On June 12th, the hapless Mr Singh got caught by the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency -- the counterpart of the CBP), which has been exerting itself lately to show President Trump that Canada will do its part to stem the flow of mind-altering substances across the border. 

He was attempting to drive a commerical truck across the Blue Water Bridge through the point of entry at Point Edward ON, across the water from Port Huron MI. During the inspection of the trailer, border services officers, with the assistance of Detective Mcgruff, the drug-sniffing dog, discovered the items pictured below.

That's 161 bricks of "suspected" cocaine -- it's still being tested by the officers -- contained in 6 boxes. The total weight of the "suspected" narcotics was 411 lbs, with an estimated street value of C$23.3 million (about $169 million in real money). 

The CBSA arrested Karamveer Singh, 27, of Brampton ON, and transferred him and the "suspected" narcotics to the custody of the Mounties. Mr Singh has been charged with Importation of Cocaine, and Possession of Cocaine for the Purpose of Trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Nothing has been said about how he got into Canada. The investigation is ongoing, but don't bother staying tuned.

Footnote added at 1212: Peel Regional Police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down several suspects after a man was shot dead at his Brampton workplace last week. He has since been identified as Sharnpreet Singh. The workplace is believed to be other than the Singh School of Truck Driving. Source: Global TV News, 25/6/25.

Your Singhs today (Canada-US border edition)

It must be apparent by now, even to someone as tone-deaf as Canadian Prime Minister "Junior" Trudeau, that if he's going to honour his pledge made at Mar-a-Lago (see previous post) to tighten up security on the border between Canada and the US of A, he's going to have to confront his great and good friends in the Sikh community.

Because M Trudeau depends for electoral success on the multitudes of Singhs -- all Sikhs are Singhs -- in the `burbs of Vancouver and Toronto, his law enforcement minions and the lickspittle media tend to downplay or outright ignore the involvement of numerous graduates of the Singh School of Truck Driving (see WWW passim) in the cross-border traffic in cocaine, guns and other contraband.

You don't believe? Consider this report from the Illinois State Police, released yesterday. According to the press release, two Ontario men are facing charges after troopers seized 540 kilograms of cocaine from a tractor-trailer which they stopped on Interstate 80 on the afternoon of November 29th.

The cops were conducting a commercial vehicle inspection on a Volvo tractor-trailer on I-80 in Henry County. "During the commercial motor vehicle inspection, the trooper observed numerous indicators of criminal activity," the news release read. "A subsequent search revealed suspected cocaine. The total approximate weight of the cocaine located was 1146 pounds and has an approximate street value of more than $40 million dollars."

The accused, who police said are both residents of Ontario, have been identified as 27-year-old Vanshpreet Singh and 36-year-old Manpreet Singh. They have been charged with possession of cocaine, possession with intent to deliver cocaine, and cocaine trafficking. 

Homeland Security investigators have been called in to figure out how the Singhs and their very large truck got into the US of A without being challenged at the World's Longest Undefended Border (TM). Is a puzzlement. Perhaps if the border were properly defended, such things wouldn't happen.

One law for some

How often has it been said that there's one law for the rich and powerful, another law for the rest of us?

On Tuesday, in the quaint little town of Orangeville, Ontario, a former Member of Parliament, Rahim Jaffer (Conservative, Edmonton) , struck a plea bargain with the local crown attorney (political affiliation unknown).

The young Gaffer pled guilty to a charge of careless driving. The Crown withdrew criminal charges related to cocaine possession and drunk driving. Crown attorney Marie Balogh said only that there were "significant legal reasons," and no reasonable prospect of conviction. She offered no further explanation.

The judge said the ex-MP "caught a break". Indeed. He paid a fine of $500, and, no doubt out of the goodness of his heart, made a $500 contribution to "a charity". [Possibly Mothers Against Drunk Driving? ed.] And he gets to keep driving.

Jaffer, by the way, happens to be the husband (spouse? partner?) of Helena Guergis (Conservative, Simcoe Grey), Minister of State for the Status of Women in the government of "Call Me Steve" Harper. Walt is sure that connection had no bearing on the Crown's decision to slap Jaffer's wrist and send him on his way.

The rain it falleth on the just
And on the unjust fella,
But mostly on the just because
The unjust hath the just's umbrella.

Footnote: Read "From poster couple to problem couple". The Winnipeg Free Press calls Rahim and Helena a "poster couple for political entitlement". Walt invites readers to nominate other political couples for a suitable award.