Young Canadian trucker used as "blind mule" cleared in USD$2.5M drug trafficking case

A Brampton, Ontario trucker found himself in jail after he was used as a “blind mule” to transport more than 1,700 lbs of marijuana across the border.

He was arrested by US Customs and Border Protection for having more than USD$2.5 million (CAD$3.1 million) worth of marijuana among his cargo. He had been crossing the Peace Bridge into the US in June 2020 when he was detained.

Lucky for Arshdeep Singh, 20, all charges were dropped last month, but not before he spent several months in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. He was released from jail in February 2021, and in January 2022, all charges against Singh were dropped.

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According to The Buffalo News, Singh’s father played a pivotal role in proving his son’s innocence. A police officer in India, his father was able to obtain video that helped get the charges being dropped.

CASE DISMISSED! This is a pic of my innocent client and I walking out of federal court right after the government agreed to dismiss its case against him! #NotGuilty #criminaldefense #advocacy #SingerLegalPLLC pic.twitter.com/5pBUUVTcDN

— Rob Singer (@robcsinger) January 31, 2022

Singh’s father was able to locate a video of Singh’s truck being removed from the shipping yard without permission, only to be brought back before Singh’s scheduled delivery began.

According to The Buffalo News, the trailer was taken from the shipping yard at 6:40 pm and was returned a few hours later at 10:39 pm.

The video showed someone with “connections to organized crime and drug smuggling was the one who pulled the trailer off the lot and there was no reason for him to do that,” defence lawyer Rob Singer told The Buffalo News.

In addition, Singer used phone records to prove that the only people Singh was in contact with during his delivery were his girlfriend and his mother in India. According to The Buffalo News, Singer said that when someone is transporting drugs across a border, they are typically in constant contact with a handler. Singh, clearly, was not.

“Last week, the US Attorney agreed to dismiss the charges against him,” Singer wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Singh could have been jailed for up to 10 years if he had been found guilty.

“I don’t have any words to explain my happiness. I never met someone like Rob in my life,” Singh wrote in a social media post.

“I am so lucky that you are a part of my life. You are a part of my every sad and happy moment,” he added in a comment on Singer’s LinkedIn post.