Abbotsford Police arrested two Indo-Canadian men allegedly involved in the cross border smuggling of $1.2 million worth of cocaine into Canada. Abbotsford residents Randeep Match and Manindervir Virk are on trial for possession for the purpose of trafficking in connection with the case.
ABBOTSFORD – Two Abbotsford Indo-Canadian men busted while allegedly trying to smuggle $1.2 million worth of cocaine across the U.S. border are being tried in Chilliwack Supreme Court this week.
Randeep Singh Match and Manindervir Singh Virk were arrested September 14, 2009 after U.S. border patrol motion-detection cameras spotted three men crossing into the United States and quickly backtracking into Canada in a heavily wooded and unmanned section near the Sumas border crossing, reported Abbotsford News.
Match and Virk were nabbed around 10:45 p.m. in a co-ordinated bust involving Abbotsford Police, K-9 units, U.S. Border Patrol Services, and the RCMP.
APD officers discovered four duffel bags stuffed with tightly packed bricks of cocaine and tracked Match and Virk to a location a short distance away.
The RCMP helicopter was able to follow the pair using an infrared camera system, which helped to facilitate their capture.
The accused are each charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and the three-day trial that started Tuesday is expected to end today.
Match was charged with inflicting fear of injury in a 2007 incident in Delta that saw him fined $500 and put on a yearlong peace bond out of Surrey provincial court.
Virk was on probation when he was arrested from an assault conviction in March that came while he was on probation from a previous assault in May 2008 in Pitt Meadows.
Considering the amount of cocaine seized in the incident, police stated it was likely there were gang connections behind the smuggling attempt.
Courtesy Abbotsford News
