B.C. POLITICIAN NABBED IN U.S.

Member Of Prominent Sikh Family Caught In Drug Sting

A failed NDP candidate and well-connected Sikh community member is in
a Seattle jail charged with trafficking ecstasy.

Ravinderjit Kaur Puar, also known as Ravinderjit Shergill, was
arrested in Seattle on June 30 after a four-week Drug Enforcement
Agency investgation. She was ordered detained yesterday, pending trial.

According to U.S. court documents, Puar told an undercover officer
that her family "has it very well with the cops," that Vancouver
police work for her organization and her father is well-connected politically.

Kalwant Singh Puar is a key supporter of federal Health Minister
Ujjal Dosanjh and a senior member of the Ross Street Temple.

Puar is also claimed to have told a DEA informant that "in Vancouver,
you f--k with us, you die." She also allegedly said that people who
mess with her organization end up "six feet under."

Puar was beaten in the January 2005 nomination battle for Vancouver-

Kensington by David Chudnovsky, who was elected MLA for the riding in May.

Stating she was a member of the Hospital Employees Union working for
the B.C. Cancer Agency as a lab technician, Puar beat three other
nominees, coming second to Chudnovsky.

DEA agent Joseph Parker said in court documents that the
investigation began this spring and culminated in arrests on June 30.

Puar allegedly told an undercover officer that she oversaw pill
production and was saving money for a political campaign.

Puar and Sarbjit Singh Virk are in custody accused of conspiring to
distribute ecstasy. Kamaljit Singh Ghag and Sarbjit Singh Sandhu are
free on bail.