A commercial truck inspection at a Pennsylvania weigh station led U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to arrest a driver wanted on federal wire fraud charges.
Simranpal Singh was taken into custody Sept. 4 while an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer was conducting inspections of commercial vehicles at a weigh station in Newberry, Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Homeland Security, according to a news release.
DHS said Singh presented a New York-issued commercial driver’s license during the inspection. The ICE officer determined Singh, an Indian national, was unlawfully present in the U.S. and took him into custody.
At the time of his arrest, Singh had an outstanding warrant for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud issued out of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, according to DHS.
Details about the alleged wire fraud scheme, including when the charges were filed or the amount of money involved, were not included in DHS’ announcement on Monday.
Singh will remain in ICE custody until he is transferred to the U.S. Marshals Service in connection with the criminal case. DHS said ICE intends to resume custody after the criminal proceedings and that Singh has pending removal proceedings.
DHS says Singh entered U.S. in 2022
According to DHS, Singh entered the U.S. through Arizona in June 2022 and was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol before being released into the country.
DHS did not say in its announcement when Singh received his New York CDL, what type of commercial vehicle he was operating when arrested or whether the truck was placed out of service.
The arrest comes amid increased federal scrutiny of commercial driver licensing and the immigration status of some CDL holders. DHS has highlighted several recent ICE arrests involving commercial drivers who held CDLs issued by states other than where they were apprehended.
Why it matters: The arrest adds another case to the federal government’s expanding scrutiny of commercial driver licensing and immigration compliance in the trucking industry.
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