New Delhi: At a time when US President Donald Trump has slapped new tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico, calling it a response to the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigration into America, two Indian-origin individuals have been charged in Canada after they were arrested for alleged possession of 8 kg of fentanyl, potentially amounting to millions of doses.
Swati Narula, 26, and Kunwardeep Singh, 28, have been charged under Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Apart from the Trump tariffs, fentanyl has also been in the news after a US indictment accused two Surat-based firms of shipping fentanyl precursors, mislabelling them as Vitamin C. A highly addictive synthetic opioid, fentanyl is considered approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
Narula and Singh were arrested in Calgary on 28 January, when officers from Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mountain Police’s (RCMP’s) Roving Traffic Unit (RTU) and the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol (SHP) were conducting patrols in the Swift Current area. An officer conducted checks on the highway detained them.
According to the RCMP, the officers found 8 kg of fentanyl hidden under their vehicle’s spare tyre, after which Singh and Narula were arrested. The RCMP has said that the accused revealed during the probe that they were travelling to Regina.
“This is a significant fentanyl seizure. Keep in mind that only a few grains of fentanyl are enough to potentially cause a fatal overdose. We have prevented potentially millions of doses of this dangerous drug from entering our communities,” an RCMP statement quoted Superintendent Grant St. Germaine, officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Traffic Services, as saying. “I hope this is a message to others who choose to transport illicit goods in our province. Our officers are watching out for you.”
On Sunday, US Vice-President J. D. Vance too upped the ante, posting on X that Canada “has seen a massive increase in fentanyl trafficking across its border.”
“There are three ways of stopping this. The first is ask nicely, which we’ve done. It’s gone nowhere,” he further wrote, adding: “Now we’re on to the consequences phase.”
Mexico sends ton of fentanyl into our country. Canada has seen a massive increase in fentanyl trafficking across its border. There are three ways of stopping this. The first is ask nicely, which we’ve done. It’s gone nowhere.
Now we’re on to the consequences phase.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 2, 2025
In another post, he wrote: “Spare me the sob story about how Canada is our ‘best friend’,” and posed the question of whether the Canadian government was making attempts to stop the flow of drugs into the US.
Spare me the sob story about how Canada is our “best friend.” I love Canada and have many Canadian friends. But is the government meeting their NATO target for military spending? Are they stopping the flow of drugs into our country?
I’m sick of being taken advantage of.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 2, 2025
The three countries slapped with tariffs have hit back. China has vowed to sue the US at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) while Canada and Mexico have promised their own retaliatory tariffs, setting the stage for a trade war.
In his X post announcing the new tariffs, Trump wrote he had imposed them because of “the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our citizens, including fentanyl”.
He added that in doing so, he was fulfilling a campaign promise.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2025
In the executive order Trump also emphasised the need to protect American citizens from the “dangers posed by illicit drugs and unauthorized immigration.” He also said that “gang members, smugglers, human traffickers and illicit drugs have poured across US borders into communities”.
According to media reports, there has been a rapid growth of truck driving schools in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, where a significant number of Indians, especially Sikh immigrants are trained to become drivers. The industry of driving relies heavily on immigrant labourers.
In February last year, an Indian truck driver from Canada was charged with “intent to distribute controlled substances” after he was caught trying to bring cocaine worth around 8.7 million Canadian dollars into the US.
Months later, a 35-year-old Indian-origin commercial truck driver, Sukhwinder Dhanju, was charged after he was caught by the authorities while trying to transport cocaine worth approximately C$6.5 million ($4.86 million) into Canada.
Dhanju was arrested by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in September after he arrived at the primary inspection booth at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge port of entry in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario province, according to an IANS report.
Media reports say thousands of trucks enter the US each day and are a source of drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
The ‘superlab’ drug bust
In November last year, another man of Indian origin, Gaganpreet Randhawa, was arrested in a narcotics case.
Randhawa was arrested by the RCMP after a crackdown was launched against what the RCMP has termed Canada’s largest illegal drug lab. He has been charged on multiple counts for drug- and firearms-related offences.
The entire operation, according to authorities, led to huge seizures of narcotics, including fentanyl, precursors, and firearms across Metro Vancouver. The lab at the heart of this was referred to by the RCMP as the “largest and most sophisticated fentanyl and methamphetamine drug superlab in Canada”.
“The combined fentanyl and precursors seized at this facility could have amounted to over 95,500,000 potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which have been prevented from entering our communities or being exported abroad,” the RCMP said, adding that the probe is linked to a “transnational organised crime group believed to be involved in the mass production and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine across Canada and internationally”.
In the same month, another individual of Indian origin, 31-year-old Gurvarun Matharu from Surrey, was also arrested and charged under counts of narcotics trafficking in connection with the seizure of 50 kilograms of cocaine.
Sikh activist Sukhi Chahal, meanwhile, in response to the arrest of the two Indian-origin individuals in Canada, has said that addressing the arrests is critical, especially from the Sikh leadership.
Chahal also said that despite sending numerous requests in the past on the narcotics issue, he has not received any response from the Jathedar of the Akal Takht Sahib.
“Why is there no directive to excommunicate Sikhs involved in narcotics worldwide? This silence only adds to the problem,” he said.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
The Khalistanis are the ones involved in large scale drug smuggling. This is the main source of their funds.