Canadian trucker held with 250 kg cocaine worth ₹276 crore by Arizona State Troopers

A Canadian trucker has been arrested by Arizona State Troopers in the United States for allegedly transporting around 250 kg (550 pounds) of cocaine worth ₹276.7 crore ($32 million) in a semi-truck on Interstate 40, according to a report by the Toronto Sun.

Arrested in Arizona

Amarjeet Singh Matharu, 31, was arrested at Holbrook in Arizona, near the Petrified Forest National Park, after officers suspected him of "showing multiple signs of criminal activity", the report added. He is from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it said.

Police found the drugs hidden behind other produce in the Volvo tractor-trailer on January 13, and it was being transported from Los Angeles and Salinas in California to Canada, as per the report. He is being held at the Navajo County jail in Arizona and is being charged with possession and transportation of narcotic drugs for sale, it added.

Multiple Canadians Arrested for Drugs

American officials have held multiple Canadians accountable for drug-related crimes. In December 2024, police received tips of a semi-tractor trailer transporting cocaine and the vehicle was spotted and stopped by the Berrien County Sheriff’s deputies on the I-94 in Michigan, US, as per the report.

In a joint operation, the local police and Michigan State Police searched the truck and trailer and found 123 pounds of cocaine hidden in the truck worth around $1.5 million. They arrested and took into custody Driver Sukhraj Singh, 22, of Caledon, who is awaiting the charges.

Prior to that in October 2024, one Sukjindr Singh, 29, of Peel Region, was arrested by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s office, who seized over 370 pounds of cocaine from a semi-tractor trailer in Port Huron during a traffic stop.

In September, 49-year-old Naseeb Chisty of Etobicoke was arrested in Indiana for holding 300 pounds of cocaine in his semi-truck; in August 42-year-old Juli Sabosan Sathiaseelan was nabbed with 266 pounds of cocaine by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents.