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3 Indo-Canadians among 5 persons to be extradited to the US for drug trafficking
A joint operation between the Canadian and American law enforcement resulted in busting an alleged narcotics trafficking network
Toronto: Five persons including three Indo-Canadians will be extradited to the United States after a joint operation between Canadian and American law enforcement resulted in busting an alleged narcotics trafficking network.
The operation, called Dead Hand, was undertaken between the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
In a release on Tuesday, the RCMP said it “arrested five individuals allegedly linked to a network trafficking drugs between Mexico, the United States and Canada. They were arrested under an international arrest warrant and will be extradited for trial in the United States”.
They were identified as Ivan Gravel Gonzalez, 32, of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Roberto Scoppa, 55, of Montreal, Ayush Sharma, 25, of Brampton, Guramrit Sidhu, 60, of Brampton and Subham Kumar, 29, of Calgary.
The release said that according to the FBI the five were “allegedly part of a criminal organisation smuggling drugs, including cocaine, from the United States to Canada by land”.
Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles, US attorney Martin Estrade said, as per the agency Canadian Press, “This conspiracy spanned three countries and involved drug suppliers connected to cartels in Mexico, drug distributors and brokers in Los Angeles, Canadian truck drivers and a network that exported drugs into Canada, and even an associate of the Italian mafia in Montreal.”
Sidhu was accused of purchasing methamphetamine from suppliers in Mexico and Los Angeles and using a network of long-haul truck drivers to move the narcotics into Canada. Sharma and Kumar were truck drivers.
The American indictment in this regard stated that the network trafficked about 845kg of methamphetamine, 951kg of cocaine, 20kg of fentanyl and 4kg of heroin, with a value of between $16 million and $28 million.
At least 940,000 Canadian dollars in cash, 70kg of cocaine and 4kg of heroin were seized in Canada.
Scoppa was alleged to be connected to the Italian mafia.
As Canada’s national police force, the RCMP is dedicated to disrupting the flow of illegal drugs into our country, looking beyond our borders to where these threats originate and stopping them at the source. This operation demonstrates the close work we do with our international partners to combat transnational organised crime, helping keep our communities safe on both sides of the border,” chief superintendent Mathieu Bertrand, Director General of Serious and Organised Crime & Border Integrity at RCMP Federal Policing, said, in the release.
