Sask. judge sentences former international student turned drug trafficker

Saskatoon Provincial Court is pictured in this file photo. (Chad Hills/CTV Saskatoon)

An international student from India who turned drug trafficker when he could no longer afford his school fees was sentenced to nearly a decade behind bars this month in Saskatoon.

Jatinderpal Singh was arrested in Saskatoon on Aug. 30, 2024, following about a month of police surveillance.

On arrest, his pockets were full of mid-sized bags of methamphetamine and fentanyl, and a hotel key for the Thriftlodge on Idylwyld Drive. In the hotel room, police found meth and fentanyl in kilogram quantities, scales, bags, about 500 grams of cocaine, a ledger of sales and $77,546 in cash.

Singh pleaded guilty in Saskatoon provincial court to charges including trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime.

Based on a statement of facts accepted by the Crown prosecutors, Singh had only been selling drugs in Saskatoon for about four weeks. Prior to coming to Saskatchewan, he had been attending university in Ontario. He finished his first year, but couldn’t afford to pay tuition for his second year.

Since he dropped out of school, his visa expired. Court heard he started taking out loans and borrowing from friends and family to get by.

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“He was planning on returning to India in November 2024, but was hoping to pay off his debts before leaving Canada. He heard from a ‘friend of a friend’ that he could make money by selling drugs,” Judge Lisa Watson writes in her Sept. 4 sentencing decision.

“He was told he could make $10,000.00 - $12,000.00 a week. Despite this, the most money he made in one week was approximately $3,800.00.”

Singh told court he got in touch with “the group” on the encrypted messaging app Signal, and 10 days later they had him on a plane to Saskatoon, where he was directed to the hotel room. Singh said most of the drugs were already present, along with about $20,000 cash.

“The money police found in the room was the profit from just Sunday through Friday of that week. The group would have the money from each week picked up or dropped off at a location every Sunday,” according to the facts submitted by Singh’s defence.

The then-26-year-old told court he was directed who to sell drugs to and when. He says he didn’t even know the actual names of the drugs, just their street names.

The day before his arrest, Singh tried to tell the group he saw the police surveilling him.

“They told him he was probably imagining this and told him to keep selling. He was subsequently arrested on August 30, 2024,” according to the facts submitted.

Now, what started as a quick way to pay off debts has ended with Singh facing nearly 10 years in federal prison, subtracting credit for time served on remand. After that long stint behind bars, he’ll be deported.

Despite his lack of prior criminal record and apparent naivety to the illicit enterprise, Watson writes that a lengthy sentence was necessary given the substantial harm these substances inflict on the community.

“He has contributed to the public health crisis in this province. Those who choose to profit from the misery of the public for personal gain must be sentenced in accordance with the severity of the harm they have caused,” Watson writes.

“Mr. Singh chose to engage in illegal activity purely for financial gain. While he did not personally receive the benefit of all of the profit, he brought wealth to the organization and is responsible for the distribution of incredibly harmful substances into the community.”

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