Officers allege a range of substances — including cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, GHB, methylamphetamine and cannabis — were destined for Schoolies events on the Peninsula before being intercepted.
Barrett warned that Australia’s ongoing demand for illicit commodities — even amid cost-of-living pressures — was placing “significant pressure in our suburbs” and driving organised crime to use Pacific transit routes.
“In one of the seizures, a one-kilogram package of cocaine had been damaged, which resulted in frozen white powder strewn inside the shipping container”
“Criminal syndicates are exploiting young travellers who may not understand the risks of importing border-controlled drugs into Australia, all for their own financial gain.”
Police allege Aneeza Rehnaaz Ali and Mohammed Saiyad Ali were running a large-scale drug operation across the Lower Mainland and into regional communities.
Sukhdeep Dhanoa, 42, Sandeep Dandiwal, 33, Gurpreet Singh, 30, and Kulwinder Singh, 40, have each been charged with production of a controlled substance under Section 7(1) of the Act.
Jatinderpal Singh, who came to on a study permit in 2022, was unable to afford tuition leaving his visa to expire; he was drawn into drug trafficking in 2024 and caught within a month during a police sting.
With this listing, the Bishnoi gang joins Khalistani extremist organisations already banned in Canada under the Criminal Code, including Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation.
The crash killed 42-year-old mother Nancy Lefrançois and her 11-year-old son Loïc Chevalier, who were travelling in a passenger vehicle struck in the collision.
