An Indian origin man named Jatinderpal Singh was sentenced to 11 years in jail by the provincial court of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon on September 4, 2025, on the charges of drug trafficking. Singh was arrested in August last year in Saskatoon after about a month-long police surveillance. At the time of his arrest, Singh had in his pockets mid-sized bags of methamphetamine and fentanyl, and a hotel key. When the police searched his hotel room, they found incriminating material, including Methamphetamine and fentanyl in kilograms, scales, bags, about 500 grams of cocaine, a ledger of scales and $77,546 in cash.
27-year-old Singh had come to Canada to study at a university in Ontario, but he started selling drugs to pay his college fees. Before coming to Saskatoon, he had passed his first year in college, but could not complete his course as he could not afford the college fees for the second year. As a result, his student visa expired. He had only been engaged in drug trafficking for four weeks before he got arrested.
“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, who presided over Singh’s sentencing, noted in the sentencing order.
“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,” the order stated. Singh told the court that he came in contact with a group on the messaging app Signal. About 10 days later, he was sent to Saskatoon, where he stayed in a hotel room. The drugs and about $20,000 cash were already present in the room. “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,” stated Singh in his pleadings before the court. He added that he received directions regarding who and when to sell the drugs.
Even though Singh does not have a prior criminal record, he was granted a long sentence considering the seriousness of the crime. “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,” the judge wrote in the order. “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 organisation and is responsible for the distribution of incredibly harmful substances into the community,” she added.
Singh will have to serve the sentence period after deducting his time served on remand, after which he will be deported to India.
