An Abbotsford man has been sentenced to five years in a U.S. prison for allowing cocaine shipments across the border while he was an inspector at the Aldergrove crossing.
Jasbir Singh Grewal, 40, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to export cocaine and was sentenced Nov. 4 in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Wash. The judge also ruled that, following Grewal's release from prison, he will be on supervised release for four years.
Grewal was arrested in August 2010 and was later extradited to the U.S.
He was employed as a Canada Border Service Agency inspector in 2007 and 2008, when he permitted recreational vehicles to enter Canada that he was aware were carrying cocaine.
The drivers had been advised to enter the Aldergrove crossing at a specific time and use the lane in which Grewal was working.
According to U.S. court documents, Grewal was paid $50,000 for each load of cocaine. Each RV contained 200 to 300 kilos of the drug valued between $5 million and $7.5 million.
In total, it was estimated that 3,000 kilos of cocaine, valued at $75 million, were imported into Canada in the course of the conspiracy.
The court documents state that Grewal was involved in 12 incidents in which he permitted a vehicle containing cocaine to knowingly cross the border into Canada.
At the time of his arrest, Grewal had no prior criminal record. He had lived in Abbotsford since the age of 11, and obtained a bachelor of arts with a major in criminology in 1996.
He had worked for several non-profit groups and also volunteered as a youth support worker.
A total of 54 people have been charged in connection to the drug ring, including 28 Canadians. Devron Quast of Abbotsford was sentenced in July 2009 to six years and three months in prison, while the leader of the conspiracy, Rob Shannon of Maple Ridge, was sentenced in March 2009 to 20 years.
Jody York, formerly of Abbotsford, received a five-year sentence in March of this year.