An Indian-origin truck driver has been convicted of importing cocaine worth up to $4.8 million into Canada after a judge rejected his explanation for how the drugs ended up inside his trailer during a border crossing in April 2024.Ranjit Singh, 33, was found guilty of importing cocaine and possessing it for trafficking on Monday after Ontario Superior Court Justice Scott Pratt ruled against him following a three-week trial in Sarnia in June.The case dates back to April 26, 2024, when Canadian authorities discovered 40 kilograms of cocaine packed inside two cardboard boxes in a truck at the Canadian side of the Blue Water Bridge. The drugs were estimated to be worth between $3.6 million and $4.8 million.“The defendant will be found guilty of both charges,” Pratt said while delivering his decision, which took approximately an hour.During the trial, prosecutors presented a sequence of events in which Singh allegedly collected packages of cocaine from another truck at a Pilot Travel Centre in Channahon, Illinois. The Crown further alleged that he purchased cardboard boxes from a Home Depot store in Shorewood, Illinois, before placing the drugs inside them.According to the prosecution’s account, Singh subsequently loaded the packages onto his trailer at a truck yard on Sanders Road in Lansing, Michigan. The boxes were concealed within a pallet containing other goods before the vehicle travelled towards Canada.Singh disputed the prosecution’s version of events. During several days of testimony, he acknowledged that cocaine had been discovered in his trailer but denied receiving or transporting the drugs knowingly.He told the court that the owner of his company had instructed him to purchase the cardboard boxes and leave them with another truck at the Michigan yard. Singh said he noticed an unidentified man at the location and left his vehicle unattended for between 10 and 15 minutes while he went to the bathroom.Justice Pratt rejected Singh’s explanation, pointing to inconsistencies in his testimony. The judge said he was satisfied that Singh had probably received the cocaine from another driver at the Illinois travel centre, as the prosecution had argued.However, Pratt said the precise point at which Singh obtained the drugs was not decisive to the case. The cocaine was inside his trailer when he entered Canada, and the judge concluded that Singh knew it was there.Singh, who was granted bail of $200,000 in early May 2024, will remain out of custody until sentencing. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for February, according to The London Free Press.