US officials have arrested two Indian nationals with drugs worth USD 10 million, the Department of Justice said. Simranjit Singh, 28, and Gusimrat Singh, 19, of Fresno, California were each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, it said.
Both made initial appearances before a federal court in Boston on July 29 and remain in federal custody. They were detained after local police found in the cab of the tractor trailer, over 400-kg bricks of suspected cocaine worth more than USD 10.5 million.
“The sheer amount of drugs seized in this one case is disturbing and dangerous. These defendants allegedly took a cross-country trip to distribute illicit narcotics into Massachusetts communities,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S Levy.
According to charging documents, on July 29, at 10.15 pm, a white tractor trailer arrived at a planned Andover address to deliver methamphetamine to the undercover agents. The driver and passenger of that tractor trailer, later identified as Gusimrat Singh and Simranjit Singh, allegedly handed off 65 pounds of suspected methamphetamine to the undercover agents. The men were immediately taken into custody.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to life of supervised release, and a fine of up to USD 1,000,000.
