Thirty-Four Kilograms Came Out of a Rental Car on a Traffic Stop, the Dog That Found It Belonged to Another Force, and Only One Count Has Been Laid: Manitoba RCMP Charge Gurinder Singh, 33, of Calgary Near Portage la Prairie (September 24, 2026)

A roadside stop near Portage la Prairie at twenty minutes to one on Wednesday afternoon produced what the Manitoba RCMP describe as approximately thirty-four kilograms of suspected cocaine — a load the force values at roughly $850,000 — out of a rented vehicle. The dog whose alert opened the search was not an RCMP dog: it came from the Manitoba First Nations Police Service K-9 unit. Gurinder Singh, 33, of Calgary was arrested at the scene, remanded into custody, and charged with a single count.

A highway file, not an investigation

The unit named on this file is RCMP Traffic Services. Nothing in the release suggests the vehicle was under investigation before it was pulled over, that the stop followed a tip, or that any project or drug unit had carriage. On the published account this is a thirty-four-kilogram cocaine seizure that came out of general highway enforcement on the Trans-Canada corridor west of Winnipeg — the stretch that carries freight between Alberta and Ontario — with a canine handler from a different police service doing the part that turned a traffic stop into a trafficking file.

The force does not say what brought the vehicle to the officer’s attention, whether the driver was the renter of record, how the cocaine was packaged or concealed, or in which direction the car was travelling. That last point matters on a corridor file: thirty-four kilograms moving west is a different story from thirty-four kilograms moving east, and the release declines to tell either one.

One count against one man

Singh faces possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. There is no importation count, no conspiracy count, no proceeds count, and no second accused. He was remanded into custody. No court date, courthouse or next appearance is published, and the force does not say whether anyone else was in the vehicle.

The cocaine is described throughout as suspected. Samples have gone to Health Canada for confirmation, which means the $850,000 figure and the thirty-four-kilogram weight are both police estimates attached to a substance that has not yet been analytically identified in the public record.

The charge referred to here has not been tested in court. The substance seized is described by police as suspected cocaine pending Health Canada analysis. No criminal organization, street gang or outlaw motorcycle club has been named in connection with this file.