SaskatoonJatinderpal Singh, an international student from India, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in Saskatoon provincial court to charges of drug trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime.Jatinderpal Singh turned to selling drugs to pay off debts, sentencing decision saysChris Edwards · CBC News · Posted: Oct 01, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours agoSaskatoon police distributed this photo of drugs and cash they seized during their arrest of Jatinderpal Singh on Aug. 30, 2024. (Saskatoon Police Service)An international student from India has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in Saskatoon provincial court to charges of drug trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime.Jatinderpal Singh, who came to Canada to study at a university in Ontario, said he turned to selling drugs in Saskatchewan in order to pay off his debts, according to the written decision by Saskatoon provincial court Judge Lisa Watson, who presided over Singh’s sentencing.Singh, 27, passed his first year of studies but couldn’t complete his second year because he couldn’t afford the school fees, according to information that was presented in court. His student visa then expired.After being told by a “friend of a friend” that he could make a significant amount of money selling drugs, he reached out to a trafficking group over the messaging app Signal, according to agreed facts described in the sentencing decision. They sent him to Saskatoon in July 2024 and directed him to sell drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl. Singh sold drugs for approximately four weeks before he was arrested by Saskatoon police, who were surveilling him at his hotel. After arresting him, police found more than half a kilogram of cocaine, more than five kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than two kilograms of fentanyl. They also found $77,546 in cash. “Given all of the circumstances, including the quantity of drugs, the manner in which they were packaged, the amount of cash, and the details revealed in the scoresheet, I am satisfied that the only rational inference to draw is that Mr. Singh was engaged in a high-level drug trafficking operation,” Watson wrote in her Sept. 4 decision.”Mr. Singh chose to engage in illegal activity purely for financial gain,” said Watson. “While he did not personally receive the benefit of all of the profit, he brought wealth to the organization and is responsible for the distribution of incredibly harmful substances into the community. He has contributed to the public health crisis in this province.”Evidence submitted at the sentencing hearing included a report from the Saskatchewan coroner on drug toxicity deaths that showed accidental overdoses in the province increased from 92 in 2016 to a high of 416 in 2023, with fentanyl driving the increase in deaths.Watson sentenced Singh to 11 years in prison. After credit for his time on remand, Singh has nine and a half years left to serve.Watson noted that when his sentence is complete, Singh “will face a significant collateral consequence” — deportation from Canada.ABOUT THE AUTHORChris Edwards is a reporter at CBC Saskatchewan. Before entering journalism, he worked in the tech industry.
International student sentenced to 11 years for trafficking fentanyl in Saskatoon
