Indo-Canadian officer faces extradition to US for drug smuggling

An Indo-Canadian officer with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), who minted money by allowing smuggling of cocaine into Canada, faces extradition to the US after his indictment by a court in Seattle.

Jasbir Singh Grewal has been indicted by the US court for allowing over a dozen large shipments of cocaine into Canada from Washington state of the US.

For each shipment, Grewal was paid $50,000.

He made an extra $600,000 in the second half of 2007 alone, says the Vancouver Sun quoting court documents.

"Jasbir Singh Grewal, an employee of the Canada Border Services Agency, abused his position of trust and influence with the government of Canada by allowing the co-conspirators travelling by recreational vehicles to exit the United States through the Lynden/Aldergrove port of entry," the paper quotes the indictment documents as saying.

"Jasbir Singh Grewal was typically paid $50,000 for successfully smuggling each load of cocaine."

The court documents say Grewal and his "known and unknown conspirators, coordinated the timing of the entry of illegal shipments of cocaine to Canada with the co-conspirators driving the recreational vehicles to coincide with his employment schedule."

Citing one case, the court documents add: "In July 2007, Jasbir Singh Grewal was on duty at the Aldergrove point of entry. He was wearing his department-issued uniform in service of the Canada Border Services Agency.

"Jasbir Singh Grewal was told by telephone that a recreational vehicle containing cocaine was soon to approach the international border crossing.

"The driver of the recreational vehicle was told to approach the crossing at a specific booth that was staffed by Jasbir Singh Grewal. The driver complied with his instruction and Jasbir Singh Grewal knowingly passed the vehicle containing the cocaine... In exchange for the vehicle to pass, Jasbir Singh Grewal was paid $50,000."

To avoid detection by law enforcement agencies, Grewal didn't record border crossings of the recreational vehicles smuggling cocaine into Canada, according to the newspaper.

Issuing arrest warrants against Grewal about two weeks ago, assistant US attorney Adam Cornell said: "Defendant is a fugitive. The government is preparing an extradition request to the Canadian government. Unsealing the court file will simplify the extradition process."

Last updated on Jul 5^th, 2009 at 11:25 am IST--IANS