Two men charged in connection with a $4 million drug bust in 2023 near the Saskatchewan/Alberta border will be receiving a new trial, according to Saskatchewan’s highest court. On June 1, 2023, Parminder Singh and Sahilpreet Grewal were travelling from Winnipeg to Edmonton on Highway 16 when they were stopped by RCMP near the town of Maidstone. Singh was the subject of an RCMP drug trafficking investigation stemming from a pair of large meth seizures at the port of entry in Coutts, Alta. Cellphone tracking showed Singh had travelled from Edmonton to Winnipeg and, after only a few hours, was returning towards Edmonton. Investigators concluded that Singh was in the process of transporting illegal drugs. An RCMP officer, Cpl. Alexandros Giannoulis, was contacted by the investigators, who provided minimal details on the drug trafficking investigation but asked to stop Singh’s vehicle for a “lawful traffic safety reason.” Giannoulis testified at trial that he concluded his role was to make his observations and then decide if Singh and Grewal were involved in criminal activities. After being pulled over, Singh and Grewal reportedly appeared very nervous, immediately handed the officers both of their licences and lied about where they were travelling from (Saskatchewan and then Saskatoon). Additionally, Giannoulis observed a blanket covering something in the back seat of the vehicle. At this point, the officers told the pair they were receiving a warning for their vehicle’s “heavy” window tint and were asked to step outside. According to the decision, Singh told police they “got the car like that,” which Giannoulis interpreted as Singh attempting to distance himself from the vehicle. These details, combined with the information that Singh was being tracked in connection with drug seizures at Coutts, led to the pair being detained. A subsequent police search of the vehicle uncovered four large bags consisting of 90 kilograms of meth and 65 kilograms of cocaine after searching the vehicle. Singh and Grewal were charged with possessing as well as trafficking meth and cocaine. At trial, Singh and Grewal successfully argued their rights were violated under Sections 8 and 9 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The two sections protect against unreasonable search or seizure and arbitrary detainment or imprisonment. The pair was acquitted. However, the Crown appealed the acquittal, arguing the trial judge was mistaken to rule the arrests unlawful and to exclude the evidence found in the vehicle. In a decision dated Aug. 20, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge was wrong to conclude that Giannoulis lacked the necessary grounds for a warrantless arrest — ruling the inference Giannoulis drew about the pair transporting drugs may not have been the only conclusion he could have drawn from the evidence but was reasonable given his background and knowledge of the situation. “Considering those facts cumulatively, contextually, and in light of his training and experience as a police officer, it was a reasonable inference,” the decision read. As a result, a new trial has been ordered. Concluding the decision, Justice Kalmakoff wrote that acquittals are not overturned lightly and Crown appeals are not successful unless proving an error had a material bearing on the acquittal. “I am satisfied the Crown has discharged its burden in this case,” Kalmakoff wrote. “The legal error I have identified was material because, absent that error, Mr. Singh and Mr. Grewal would not necessarily have been acquitted. The appeal must, therefore, be allowed.”
