Gurdarshan Singh Hansra and Tirath Bal walked out of court free men Friday after a judge ruled he had a reasonable doubt whether they knew the tractor trailer they were driving was carrying 51 kilograms of cocaine.
“Suspicion, even a reasonable suspicion, does not meet the standard of proof required,” Justice Robert Dewar said Friday in acquitting the men of the largest ever powder cocaine seizure in Winnipeg Police Service history.
Hansra, 51, and Bal, 44, stood trial charged with possession of cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The B.C. men were arrested in July 2010 following a traffic stop on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Defence lawyers Sheldon Pinx and Ryan Rolston argued the men were “blind couriers” unwittingly carrying the illegal cargo for pickup in Brampton, Ont…