UPDATED

Drug Bust- Canadian NRIs must learned by now that the Amercian system is a lot tougher than their Canadian systen

Delta, BC, Aug. 12, 2009
Ashok Sharma

NRI Davinder Singh, of Delta, was well-known for his involvement in the sport of Kabaddi - both as a coach and a player, entered the guilty plea in a Fresno, California court - just six weeks after co-accused, Thai Hoang Nguyen, of Surrey, also pleaded guilty. The Vancouver pair and two American co-accused had put together $1.4 million to buy 85 kilos of cocaine to sell in B.C. But the plot was foiled by the DEA.

• Davinder Singh of Delta, scheduled for sentencing on October 19, 2009
• NRI SOKHA BHOPAL, 50, of Valencia, Calif. is scheduled to appear again before Judge Wanger on August 31, 2009.

Delta NRI Kabaddi Player Admits Guilt in $1.4 Million Bakersfield Drug Bust

FRESNO, Calif.,
Aug. 05, 2009

United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown and DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony Williams announced today that DAVINDER SINGH, 41, Delta, British Columbia, Canada pleaded guilty to conspiring to purchase and then resell 85 kilograms, or about 187 pounds, of cocaine in Canada.

SINGH is a professional kabaddi player and coach in Canada. Kabaddi is a team sport involving wrestling, popular in India and Bangladesh. SINGH’s guilty plea is the second in the federal prosecution. On June 29, 2009, THAI HOANG NGUYEN, 32, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy. SOKHA BHOPAL, 50, of Valencia, Calif., and VATH LIM, 34, of El Monte, Calif., are also charged in the conspiracy.

This case is the product of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation by the Bakersfield DEA and Kern County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to Assistant United States Attorney Karen A. Escobar, who is prosecuting the case, DEA agents seized over $1.2 million in cash in Bakersfield after SINGH, BHOPAL, LIM, and NGUYEN brought it to a drug deal to pay for 85 kilograms of cocaine. The cash and another $106,806 from an account maintained by BHOPAL are being forfeited as drug proceeds.

SINGH is scheduled for sentencing before Senior United States District Judge Oliver W. Wanger on October 19, 2009. NGUYEN’s sentencing is scheduled for September 14, 2009. BHOPAL and LIM are scheduled to appear again before Judge Wanger on August 31, 2009.

SINGH and NGUYEN face a minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum of life, along with a maximum fine of $4 million. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.

In a similar operation in Bakersfield, the DEA and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office seized over $1 million from Canadian citizens attempting to purchase cocaine for distribution in Canada. HARJEET MANN, SUKHRAJ DHALIWAL, and GURMEET BISLA were found guilty following a three-week jury trial in June 2009. A third defendant, JASDEV SINGH entered a guilty plea before trial. As a result of these two cases, the DEA and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office have seized over $2.4 million in U.S. currency derived from drug sales.

Two NRIs denied bail for attempting to buy 85 kilo of cocaine

Delta, BC, Oct. 07, 2008
Ashok Sharma

NRI Davinder Singh of Delta, 40, of Delta, British Columbia, Canada and American associates, NRI Sokha Bhopal were denied bail last week after allegedly attempting to buy 85 kilo of cocaine in Bakersfield, Calif. Thai Hoang Nguyen of Surrey, BC, Canada was also arrested along with Davinder Singh.

In Davinder and Nguyen of Surrey, BC's bust, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration followed two American associates, Sokha Bhopal and Vath Lim, last month as they allegedly arranged and completed a cocaine for cash deal worth $1,487,500 U.S.A tip about the deal came from a confidential informant who told the DEA that Bhopal was looking to buy cocaine from Mexico. The DEA then engaged in a sting in which an agent posed as the cocaine supplier arranging meetings and phonecalls with the suspects through the informant.

The four men allegedly packed the money into two separate vehicles and met the agent in the parking lot of a restaurant.

• 4 people, 2 punjabi and 2 vietnamese, caught with 1.4 million dollars which were supposed to be used in the drug business.
• They told a man, who turned out to be an undercover police officer, that they wanted to buy 85 kg cocacine in USA to sell it for double rate in Canada. Few days later the undercover officer showed them the cocaine, and they brought 1.4 million dollars to buy this cocaine when the police arrested them.