#1. Indo-Canadian businessman among three charged after cocaine seizure
Businessman Manmohan Singh Kalsi, 33, of Surrey is one of three men charged by RCMP with importing cocaine.
On February 7, Canada Border Services Agency officers in commercial operations at the Pacific Highway Truck Crossing became suspicious of a white Chevrolet van attempting to enter Canada. The van was part of a fleet owned and operated by a Langley based moving and storage company. A secondary examination of the van revealed that the only cargo on board the vehicle were two large cardboard boxes. Inside the boxes, CBSA officers discovered approximately 67 kilos of cocaine. The lone occupant and driver, Matthew Mark Suelzle, was arrested by the CBSA and turned over to the RCMP.
Members of the RCMP Greater Vancouver Drug Section started an investigation into this seizure in concert with the CBSA, Bellingham Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Los Angeles DEA. As a result of this investigation three men have now been charged with importing cocaine.
Besides Kalsi, William Richard Suelzle, 32, of Langley, owner and operator of a Langley based moving and storage company, and his brother Matthew Mark Suelzle, 26, of Langley, a part-time employee of the company were charged.
On February 9, the Bellingham DEA, seized an additional 33 kilos of cocaine packaged in a similar fashion from a bonded warehouse in Bellingham, Washington. Investigation has led authorities to believe that this cocaine is connected to the initial 67 kilos. This makes a total of 100 kilos of cocaine seized in this investigation.
The investigation is continuing.
Kalsi told the media that the Suelzles were his friends and he had lent his credit card to William to pay another moving company to transport goods from Los Angeles to Bellingham.
#2. Jomar Lanot case: Mom wants convicted youth to suffer like her
At this week's sentencing hearing in the BC Supreme Court of the only Indo-Canadian youth convicted in the November 2003 brutal swarming death of Filipino-Canadian youth Lanot, a lawyer for the accused suggested that his client be sentenced as a youth in which case he would face a maximum of three years in jail. He pointed out that an Ontario Appeal Court ruling had struck down the new youth law because it violates the Charter of Rights, though a BC Appeal Court had upheld the law on the ground that the onus was not a heavy one on the youth to prove. But the prosecutor wanted Justice Lance Bernard to follow the BC court ruling because the Supreme Court of Canada had not ruled on this. Charges against two other Indo-Canadian youths were stayed.
The prospect of a light sentence greatly upset Lanot's mother, Jena, who told the media that she wanted the convicted youth to suffer and feel like she was feeling at the loss of her son. Some Filipino-Canadian activists kept trying to make this out to be a racist incident, apparently for their own political ends, especially more funding from the government for their organizations.
An expert in forensic psychology told the court that while the youth had never been arrested or convicted before he figured in several police investigations into assault cases. However, a forensic psychiatrist testified that the youth had now changed and was a low risk to re-offend.
The swarming attack was strongly condemned by the Indo-Canadian media and leaders.
#3. Basi-Virk case: Does the prosecution know what it's doing?
The prosecution seems to be screwing up big-time in the so-called B.C. legislature raid case involving Dave Basi, Bobby Virk and Aneal Basi. The trial, which was supposed to start on June 5, has now been delayed for six months because special prosecutor Bill Berardino told the court another investigation would take until June 15 and that other matters may require new disclosure.
This is what I reported in April:
According to the much awaited documents that were finally released with some omissions…in the December 28, 2003 "raids on the legislature" case, Brian Kieran, a former political columnist with The Province newspaper, and his partner Erik Bornman of the Pilothouse Public Affairs Group, a former communications director for the B.C. Liberal Party, were making routine payments to Udhe (Dave) Singh Basi, who was an assistant to then finance minister Gary Collins, and Bobby Singh Virk, who was an assistant to then transportation minister Judith Reid and Basi's brother-in-law, "in connection with a matter of business relating to the government."
Basi's cousin, Aneal Basi, a communications officer in the transportation ministry, was also charged for allegedly accepting payments from Pilothouse and transferring the money to Dave Basi.
One of Pilothouse's clients at the time was Omni TRAX, which was competing with CN Rail to buy BC Rail owned by the province. In 2004, BC Rail went to CN for $1 billion.
But neither Kieran nor Bornman has been charged.
So the RCMP have obviously got Kieran and Bornman to agree to testify against Basi and Virk. And this leads to suspicions in the community of racial bias: Why didn't the RCMP use Basi and Virk to get Kieran and Bornman? Who approached whom to make a deal? Who is more culpable? Some of these questions might prove to be TERRIBLY EMBARRASSING for the RCMP as the trial starts next month.
Well, now we will just have to wait another six months - and then perhaps once again, another six months?
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