LONG-DELAYED GUILTY VERDICT IN PRECEDENT-SETTING BORDER SMUGGLING CASE

Almost six years after he was arrested for trying to smuggle 50
kilograms of cocaine into Canada through the Aldergrove border
crossing, Ajitpal Singh Sekhon has been convicted.

On Thursday afternoon, Surrey Provincial Court Judge Paul Dohm
convicted the 34-year-old Sekhon on one count of importing a
controlled substance and one count of possession for the purpose of
trafficking.

The guilty verdict marked an end to a drawn-out legal battle that
began when another Surrey judge threw out the charges against Sekhon
in a controversial 2007 ruling that would have required Canadian
border guards to get a warrant before they searched any vehicles.

Sekhon was stopped at the Aldergrove crossing on January 25,
2005.

One guard testified that Sekhon was gripping the steering wheel
tightly, his jaw was rigid and he failed to make good eye contact
while being questioned.

A drug-sniffing dog located a compartment under the truck bed. Border
guards drilled several holes in the side, then they had the truck
towed to a separate lot and dismantled where they found the cocaine.

Judge Ellen Gordon ruled that the border guards' inspection of the
truck was unconstitutional because they needed reasonable grounds to
obtain a warrant rather than acting on a hunch.

At the time, the union that represents border workers warned that
traffic through Canadian border crossings would grind to a halt if
guards had to get warrants every time they wanted to search a vehicle.

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that the guards did not need warrants,
threw out the Gordon decision and ordered a new trial.

Sekhon tried and failed to get a hearing from the Supreme Court of
Canada before the case returned to Surrey Provincial Court.

A sentencing hearing for Sekhon has been set for Jan 28 in
Surrey.