How deadly drink exposed meth network tied to Indira Gandhi killer’s nephew

A massive drug smuggling ring was uncovered in New Zealand. And it all came down to meth in a can of beer.

Now, it has been revealed that the man behind the scheme is the nephew of one of Indira Gandhi’s killers.

But what do we know about the case rocking New Zealand? How did meth in a beer can lead to the country’s largest ever drug bust? What do we know about the man behind the scheme?
Let’s take a closer look.

What we know

It all began on March 2, 2023.

According to The Print, Himatjit Singh Kahlon, a manager at New Zealand’s largest dairy in Auckland, rewarded his team members by offering them free beer if they completed their chores on time. They did, and Kahlon duly provided them with the free beer.

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One of the team members, 21-year-old Aiden Sagala, took some beer home. The beverage was in cans labelled Honey Bear House Beer, made in Canada. Sagala opened one and found the taste odd. He began behaving strangely, telling his brother-in-law that he was “dying”.

By the time Sagala’s sister arrived, he had turned blue. Even emergency CPR did not help. Sagala was rushed to Auckland Hospital, where he fell into a coma and died a few days later of multiple organ failure.

As per Stuff.co.nz, Sagala’s blood work revealed an “off the charts” reading of meth. This made no sense to his family, who insisted he was ‘full of life’ and never took drugs.

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Suspicion immediately turned to Kahlon, who had given him the beer, not knowing that it contained liquid meth. The police then arrested Kahlon — who had hastened to retrieve the beer given to other team members — as well as the mastermind of the scheme, whose name remained out of public view. Kahlon, who was found guilty of manslaughter and possession of methamphetamine for supply, was sentenced to prison for 21 years — as was the mastermind of the scheme.

The man behind the scheme unveiled

Now, the name of the mastermind behind the scheme has finally been unveiled — former Auckland businessman Baltej Singh.

Singh, a respected businessman in South Auckland, began importing large quantities of drugs in 2021 after renting an industrial unit. In August that year, a Malaysian Airlines flight arrived in Auckland containing 1,440 cans of coconut water from New Delhi. What was not known at the time was that some cans contained ephedrine, a medicine used to make meth, and meth that had been dissolved.

Similarly, another pallet of coconut water cans arrived in Auckland on an Emirates flight from Dubai a few months later. Again, the modus operandi remained the same.

Then, in October 2022, a container ship from Toronto arrived in New Zealand’s Tauranga. The 40-foot container held 28,800 cans of Honey Bear lager beer. Another 40-foot container arrived in Tauranga in December from the United States. This had 22,680 bottles of kombucha.

In January 2023, Singh had two trucks move the thousands of cans of beer and bottles of kombucha to his rented unit. Singh was arrested at Auckland Airport while attempting to board a flight to Dubai. He had over $10,000 (Rs 9.39 lakh) in cash on his person. Police raids also found large quantities of drugs, equipment used to process methamphetamine, and significant sums of money linked to the operation.

Singh has spent the past few years trying to keep his name out of the public limelight. This is because of his family background — Singh is the nephew of Satwant Singh, one of Indira Gandhi’s bodyguards who became her assassin.

According to The Australia Today, in court, Singh argued that the aftermath of the assassination left the Singh family vulnerable to threats and intimidation by certain Hindu communities across the world.

The court initially allowed Singh to keep his identity concealed, agreeing that making it public could put his family’s life in danger. Justice Kiri Tahana said at the time that any potential dangers to the family overshadowed the principle of open justice.

However, the Crown then appealed the decision. Prosecutors argued that Singh’s identity and his link to Indira Gandhi’s killer were already known abroad. According to Stuff.co.uk, the court ruled that there is an “appreciable public interest” in bringing the facts of the case, including the identity of the mastermind, to light.

“That public interest and the principles of open justice are not outweighed by the very low risk (if any) of harm to [Singh’s] family, given the underlying reason for any threats or harm that may exist,” the court ruled.

FAQs

1) How was the drug smuggling operation discovered?
It was uncovered after a worker unknowingly drank meth-laced beer, fell seriously ill, and later died, prompting a police investigation.

2) How were drugs hidden in the shipments?
Meth and precursor chemicals were dissolved in liquids like beer, coconut water, and kombucha to avoid detection during transport.

3) Why was the mastermind’s identity initially hidden?
Courts feared public disclosure could put his family at risk due to his link to Indira Gandhi’s assassin, but later ruled public interest outweighed that risk.

With inputs from agencies.