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Indo-Canadian trucker caught with CA$25mn in cocaine at Canada-US border
The person arrested was identified by CBSA as 29-year-old Onkar Kalsi, a resident of Caledon in Ontario
Toronto: An Indo-Canadian trucker has been arrested by law enforcement while allegedly attempting to smuggle in cocaine worth nearly CA$ 25 million.
The arrest was announced on Thursday by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). In a release, it said that on July 23, a commercial truck arriving from the United States was referred for a secondary examination at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry.
During the ensuing inspection, border services officers found seven bags containing bricks of suspected cocaine. The total weight of the suspected narcotics was 197 kg, with an estimated street value of CA$24.6 million.
The person arrested was identified by CBSA as 29-year-old Onkar Kalsi, a resident of Caledon, in Ontario. He was transferred to the custody of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and charged with Importation of Cocaine, and Possession of Cocaine for the Purpose of Trafficking.
“This seizure by our dedicated border services officers demonstrates our commitment to stopping criminal activities and safeguarding our communities. Our message is clear: Canada will not tolerate any attempts to undermine the integrity and security of its borders,” Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree said.
Between January 1 and July 10, 2025, the CBSA seized a total of 1,164 kg of cocaine originating from the US, alongside 514 kg from other countries combined, the statement added.
This isn’t the first instance where Indian-origin truckers have been arrested in connection with the alleged smuggling to drugs. On June 10, Peel Regional Police (PRP) announced what was described as the “largest drug seizure” in the history of the region.
That investigation, Project Pelican, led to the seizure of CA $50 million worth of cocaine. Police recovered 479 kg of bricked cocaine along with two illegal semi-automatic loaded handguns.
Of those charged, six were Indo-Canadians. They were identified as Hao Tommy Huynh, a 27-year-old resident of Mississauga, Sajgith Yogendrarajah, 31, from Toronto, Manpreet Singh, 44, from Brampton, Philip Tep, 39, from Hamilton, Arvinder Powar, 29, from Brampton, Karamjit Singh, 36, from Caledon, Gurtej Singh, 36, from Caledon, Sartaj Singh 27, from Cambridge and Shiv Onkar Singh, 31, from Georgetown.
In January 2024, law enforcement arrested another Indo-Canadian trucker, Komalpreet Sidhu. Resident of Winnipeg, for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs worth over CA$ 50 million into the country.
That month, police announced that five persons including three Indo-Canadians were to be extradited to the US after a joint operation between Canadian and American law enforcement resulted in busting an alleged narcotics trafficking network.
The operation, called Dead Hand, was undertaken between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit or CFSEU unit of the RCMP.
They were identified as Ivan Gravel Gonzalez, 32, of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Roberto Scoppa, 55, of Montréal, Ayush Sharma, 25, of Brampton, Guramrit Sidhu, 60, of Brampton and Subham Kumar, 29, of Calgary.
On January 10, Canadian police announced they had arrested and charged 35-year-old Sukhwinder Dhanju, resident of Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area, for attempting to smuggle into the country cocaine worth approximately CA$ 6.5 million.
On December 4, 2023, they caught Manpreet Singh, 27, a resident of Brampton, after the truck he was driving was found to be carrying boxes containing 52 kg of suspected cocaine.
