CALGARY – An Indo-Canadian trucker from Calgary has pleaded guilty in U.S. court to carrying hundreds of pounds of cocaine across the border alongside loads of bananas.
Gurpal Singh Gill, 39, from Calgary pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute on June 10. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five to 40 years, a $5-million fine and at least four years of supervision when he is released.
Gill’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.
Custom Border and Patrol (CBP) agents were targeting commercial trucks at the Sweetgrass border crossing in Montana on Jan. 30 when they saw a truck with an Alberta licence plate, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
A Calgary man (Gill) was determined to be the driver and only person in the vehicle. When agents did an inspection, they found the man was transporting bananas from California to Calgary.
The inspectors noticed a missing rear seal on the truck and did a secondary inspection, during which they found seven boxes that did not match the colour or size of the banana boxes. Inside was a white powder, which the Drug Enforcement Agency determined to be cocaine.
In total, 95 kilograms of cocaine were found in the packages.
