Warning: This article contains disturbing details and descriptions of violence. An Innisfil transport truck driver accused of smuggling $2.3 million in cocaine across the border last year, has resolved separate assault charges in Bradford. Pawandeep Dhillon, 35, agreed to a peace bond for two years, promising not to communicate with or be anywhere near the complainants, including a woman who told police in October 2024, that Dhillon pulled her hair, punched and slapped her inside her home. “He slapped me and punched me in my back,” the woman told police as she recounted the violence, she alleged was inflicted on her by Dhillon while he was using drugs. RELATED: Truck driver accused of smuggling millions in cocaine, on trial for assaulting woman The woman’s statements to police were recorded on the officers’ body-worn cameras when they were called to the Innisfil home shortly after 8 a.m. on October 14, 2024. The woman could be heard telling South Simcoe Police officers that Dhillon was abusive and high on cocaine and that he brought tens of thousands of dollars in cash into her home. She told police she believed Dhillon was doing something illegal. Months after the 911 call, in Feb. 2025, Dhillon was arrested at the Sarnia border where Canada Border Services agents said the transport truck Dhillon was driving was found with 86 kilograms of cocaine in four black duffle bags at the Blue Water bridge. The RCMP charged Dhillon with importing a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. RELATED: Ont. man charged with smuggling suspected cocaine into Canada granted bail The Crown told the court during Dhillon’s assault trial, which got underway in July, that the complainant, who was deemed a hostile witness, had changed her story and testified Dhillon never hit her. The complainant’s testimony contradicted what she told police that morning, when she told officers she feared for her safety. “He learned this new thing where he punches my back because it doesn’t easily leave a mark,” she told an officer. “Even when I was nine months pregnant,” the woman revealed, “he hit me.” Despite being shown the video statements in court, the woman testified under oath that she was mistaken and Dhillon did not assault her. The Crown told the court it subsequently had to reassess a reasonable prospect of conviction and whether prosecuting the case was still in the public interest. On the witness stand, the woman accused police and the Crown of putting words in her mouth and being racist. She recanted her statements that Dhillon had assaulted her. The complainant told police that Dhillon had broken her nose months earlier and revealed to investigators that Dhillon said he paid off gang members not to shoot her and a member of her family. Dhillon is scheduled to appear in a Sarnia courtroom in September when it is expected trial dates will be set. The allegations against him have not been tested in court.
