As part of a smuggling operation that has been running since 2018, a Californian man has pleaded guilty to running a human smuggling scheme into Washington State and over the northern borders with Canada.
A formal complaint was lodged against 49-year-old Rajinder Pal Singh, also known as Jaspal Gill, and his fellow conspirators who used Uber to illegally transport people into the Seattle area. Records showed that the group involved would make Uber trips near the Canadian border during the early hours of the morning.
They would split the rides – while one trip was made from the border to Seattle-Tacoma international airport, a second trip would be made from a nearby airport hotel to an address in Lacey that was owned by Singh’s wife.
Singh would purchase tickets for customers to be flown to their destinations. It has been found that between July 2018 and April 2022, the 17 Uber accounts that were connected to the scheme added up to $75,000 in charges.
Incidentally, all 17 accounts were loaded on pre-paid phones to avoid being traced. Singh charged $11,500 for each customer it emerged. Uber, on its part, has thanked the Homeland Security investigators and expressed happiness over being of support.
While Singh took more than $500,000 for being the key member of the ring, conspiracy to harbor illegal people is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for May 9.
