Several months after being detained in Michigan in connection with seizures of cocaine and methamphetamine valued at millions of dollars, two truckers who worked for the same Canadian carrier were charged with federal narcotics offenses in the United States. They were both apprehended five months apart.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Prabhjot Singh was detained on March 15 after Michigan State Police officers discovered 142 kilos of cocaine during a search at a commercial vehicle inspection area in Jackson County. According to Brian Manns, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, the cocaine would be worth $7 million in Toronto, according to the complaint.
The complaint claims that even though authorities detained Singh after noticing a number of infractions by the state Department of transportation, federal investigators were already looking into him as part of an investigation into a coworker who worked for the same carrier at the time of his arrest. Neither the name of the other driver nor the name of the corporation is provided in the complaint.
According to the complaint, HSI officers apprehended that driver in November after 150 kilograms of meth were discovered concealed in a trailer in Detroit.
According to the complaint, HSI officers came to the conclusion that Singh had carried the meth from California to Michigan and had met the driver within a day of his detention as a result of the investigation.
According to the complaint, Singh and his coworker were the only two drivers employed by the Canadian transport company. Since his arrest, the colleague has been held in detention while he awaits his trial.
Federal agents make a trucker feel uneasy when they interrogate him about his trailer.
Singh entered the United States with a commercial consignment destined for California on March 8, a week before his arrest was announced. According to the complaint, he was nonetheless employed by the company despite the fact that it had been declared out of operation by the United States Department of Transportation as of February 6, 2011.
Singh was questioned about his commercial truck and the contents of his trailer by Michigan State Police officers on March 15, according to the complaint, and he “began exhibiting signs of severe anxiousness as he was being questioned about his commercial truck and the contents of his trailer.”
He admitted to authorities that he had sealed the trailer after picking up a package in California, according to his statement. Manns, the HSI agent, said in his report that the trailer did not have a seal when he examined it during the inspection.
Manns alleged that officers discovered 142 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine stacked in three duffel bags inside the trailer when they arrived.
According to the complaint, Singh consented to speak with federal officials in the absence of an attorney present at the time. According to the complaint, he admitted to investigators that he was acquainted with and had met the other truck driver before their detention.
It’s unclear whether Singh told investigators anything about the cocaine that was discovered in the trailer during the investigation. In the aftermath, he was charged with possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, as well as other charges.
On March 18, a judge ordered Singh’s detention pending the outcome of his trial. A preliminary hearing is set to take place in May.
In response to FreightWaves’ request for comment, Singh’s attorney did not react.
