Press Release
Contact:
RENE SHEKMER
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2404
DEFENDANTS IN RECORD COCAINE SEIZURE CONVICTED
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 -
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Following a two week trial, Tarlochan Singh Guron, 51, of India and Canada, Surinder Singh Dhaliwal, 29, of India and Canada, and Baljit Singh, 36, of India and Washington State, have been found guilty by a federal jury in Grand Rapids for their role in transporting over 63 kilograms (140 pounds) of cocaine, valued at over 1.5 million dollars, into Michigan, U.S. Attorney Charles R. Gross announced today. This was the largest amount of cocaine ever seized in Western Michigan. The defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over 5 kilograms of cocaine and remain jailed without bond pending sentencing. The statutory penalty for these convictions is not less than 10 years and up to life in prison. Three other defendants pled guilty before trial and are also awaiting sentencing.
At the trial in front of the Honorable Janet T. Neff in Grand Rapids, the government presented evidence showing that Surinder Singh Dhaliwal, a truck driver for GTX of Toronto, Canada, transported 63.13 kilograms of cocaine in the cab of his tractor-trailer from at least Utah to the Michigan Welcome Center on eastbound I-94 on April 29, 2008. At the Michigan Welcome Center, the cocaine was transferred to the cab of another GTX truck driven by Tarlochan Singh Guron. The transfer was captured by cameras at the Michigan Welcome Center and observed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agents conducting surveillance of the GTX trucks. Guron was stopped by the Michigan State Police at about mile marker 47 on eastbound I-94 in Van Buren County and the 63.13 kilograms of cocaine was seized from his GTX truck. Baljit Singh, who had flown from Washington State to Chicago, Illinois, and who was following the truck in a rental car, was stopped at about mile marker 46 on eastbound I-94 and arrested. Surinder Singh Dhaliwal was later stopped and arrested at about mile marker 55 on eastbound I-94 in another vehcile.
At trial, all three defendants testified in their own defense. Guron and Dhaliwal claimed that they were forced to transport the cocaine, in spite of the fact that they were alone in their trucks with cell phones, did not contact the police, and could not identify the person(s) who allegedly threatened them into carrying more than a million and a half dollars worth of cocaine. Guron testified that he was to take the cocaine to another person near mile marker 150 on eastbound I-94. There was also testimony that the cocaine was to be taken into Windsor, Canada in a garbage truck.
U.S. Attorney Gross commends the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Michigan State Police for their exemplary coordination and work in this case. The case was prosecuted on behalf of the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney B. Rene Shekmer.
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