Drug charges dropped against Abbotsford man arrested at age 19

Charges have been stayed against an Abbotsford man who was among three 19-year-olds arrested for possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking in 2017.

Ishaan Mutneja went to trial on two such charges, but they were stayed Dec. 18 in B.C. Supreme Court in Chilliwack.

Mutneja was arrested in September 2017 and initially faced three charges – possession of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking – but those were later reduced to two.

Two other men – Navpreet Dhaliwal and Sukhjit Malhi – were arrested around the same time, and each faced eight drug and weapon charges.

Dhaliwal’s charges were dropped in July 2018, and Malhi was acquitted of his charges two months later.

But Malhi was sentenced in October 2018 on different charges from February 2018.

He was handed just under a year in prison and two years’ probation on a charge of possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking. Four other charges were stayed.

Dhaliwal also faced five more drug and weapons charges – from May 2018 – but he was acquitted of all charges on what was scheduled to be the first day of his trial earlier this year.

This is the second set of charges to be stayed this year against Mutneja. In October, he had seven drug and weapon charges tossed out from a 2016 arrest.