Indian origin driver smuggled over 800 Indians into US from Canada using Uber, jailed for 3 yrs

An Indian origin driver, Rajinder Pal Singh, aka Jaspal Gill, who admitted to illegally helping hundreds of Indians cross Canada-US border has been sentenced to three years in prison.

49-year-old was a key member of a smuggling ring who took $5,00,000 for plying over 800 Indian citizens using ride-hailing app Uber.

Singh, who pleaded guilty in February is a resident of California, has been sentenced in a US district court to "45 months in prison for conspiracy to transport and harbour certain aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit money laundering," said Acting US Attorney Tessa M Gorman.

"Over a four-year period, Singh arranged for more than 800 people to be smuggled into the US across the northern border and into Washington state," said Gorman.

According to the statement made by Gorman, it was asserted that Singh's actions posed not only a security threat to Washington but also exposed the smuggled individuals to various security and safety risks throughout their arduous smuggling journey from India to the United States, which often spanned weeks.

Gorman emphasized that Singh's involvement in this conspiracy took advantage of the aspirations of Indian nationals seeking a better life in the US, while burdening the smuggled individuals with an overwhelming debt that could reach up to $70,000. Starting from July 2018, Singh and his co-conspirators utilized Uber as a means of transportation for people who had illegally crossed the border from Canada to the Seattle area.

Over the period spanning from mid-2018 to May 2022, Singh orchestrated over 600 trips, facilitating the transportation of Indian nationals who had been smuggled into the US.

The US Customs and Border Protection has reported a sharp rise in number of people caught crossing the border illegally from Canada into the United States in the past six months.

Between October and March, the US Border Patrol encountered a total of 100 individuals who had crossed the Canada-US border from Manitoba into either North Dakota or Minnesota. This six-month tally surpasses the total number of illegal border crossers encountered by US authorities throughout the entire previous year.