Metro Vancouver truck driver flees to India as steep prison sentence looms

A 60-year-old Metro Vancouver truck driver fled to India as he faces a steep prison sentence.

On Wednesday, the BC RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime unit revealed that Raj Kumar Mehmi was sentenced to 15 years in prison this November.

However, just a month before, on October 11, 2022, the Metro Vancouver truck driver fled to India after boarding a flight from Vancouver and arriving in India the next day.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest and Mehmi is considered “still at large.”

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Mehmi, from Surrey, BC, was arrested initially in November 2017 after the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) discovered a large stash of drugs hidden inside a semi-trailer truck that was being driven and was owned by Mehmi. In total, the CBSA recovered 80 sealed bricks of cocaine valued at an estimated $3.2 million.

A Supreme Court Judge found Mehmi guilty of Importation of a Controlled Substance and Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking in September of last year. A sentencing hearing was initially scheduled for January 9, 2023. Because Mehmi fled before the hearing, a judge sentenced Mehmi in absentia.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Mehmi, and the RCMP is seeking an INTERPOL Red Notice.

The RCMP adds that if anyone has information about Mehmi or his whereabouts, to not approach him but call BC Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 to report it anonymously.