A man who was arrested on Sept. 8 in Abbotsford and charged with drug offences is now facing more charges after cocaine, heroin and meth were allegedly found in the vehicle in which he was travelling.
Vishal Bajaj, who police say is involved in the ongoing Townline Hill conflict, and another man, Kuldeep Gill, were arrested on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a vehicle in the Safeway parking lot in the 27500 block of Fraser Highway – on the border of Abbotsford and Aldergrove.
Police say wrapped packages of the drugs were found in the car. Bajaj and Gill, both 26, have now each been charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Bajaj has also been charged with breaching his bail conditions two days earlier. One of his conditions is that he follow a curfew of between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Const. Ian MacDonald said Bajaj was not home during those hours when members of the Abbotsford Police Department’s newly formed gang enforcement team conducted a curfew check on Monday.
He has been remanded in custody, with his next court appearance scheduled for Sept. 24.
Gill has been released under court-ordered conditions that forbid him from possessing weapons, alcohol, drugs and cellphones. He is also prohibited from having contact with Bajaj.
His next court appearance is slated for Oct. 19.
This is Bajaj’s third set of identical charges this year. He was first charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking in May, after he was arrested in a vehicle in the area of Upper Maclure Road and Mallard Street.
Also charged with the same offences at that time was Iqbal Kular.
Bajaj faced the same charges on Sept. 8, after he was arrested at a home in the 30700 block of Sandpiper Drive, where officers seized cash, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and meth.
Those charges led to Bajaj’s court-ordered conditions, which included that he follow a curfew and not possess weapons, alcohol, drugs or cellphones.
Police indicated at a community crime forum last week that among the players in the Townline Hill conflict are two gangs battling for turf in the drug trade.
This conflict has led to several shootings, including the killing on Sept. 2 of innocent man Ping Shu Ao, 74, who was struck by a stray bullet while he was in his yard on Promontory Court.
The target of the shooting was a person in the home next door to Ao. Nobody has yet been arrested or charged with the murder.