LOS ANGELES – A Canadian national was sentenced on Thursday to 240 months (20 years) in federal prison for leading a criminal organization that – during a roughly one-month span – trafficked from the United States into Canada hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine worth up to $17 million.
Guramrit Sidhu, 63, of Brampton, Ontario, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California.
Sidhu pleaded guilty on March 26 to one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He has been in federal custody since October 2024.
According to his plea agreement, from September 2020 to February 2023, Sidhu led an organization responsible for trafficking drugs from the U.S. into Canada for distribution.
From September 13, 2022, to October 24, 2022, Sidhu orchestrated the distribution of eight separate drug loads, totaling approximately 523 kilograms (1,153 pounds) of methamphetamine and 347 kilograms (765 pounds) of cocaine, which law enforcement seized. These drug loads had an estimated wholesale value of approximately $15 million to $17 million.
After buying the bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine in the U.S., Sidhu arranged for the narcotics’ transportation into Canada via long-haul semi-trucks for further distribution. Sidhu provided telephone numbers and serial numbers on bills of currency for couriers to use as a “token” for identification purposes during the delivery and transportation of the cocaine and methamphetamine.
Sidhu and co-conspirators then retrieved the cocaine and methamphetamine from locations within Canada for further distribution.
Sidhu is the eighth defendant to plead guilty in this matter. Several other defendants have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in this case and have been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from 27 months to 108 months.
The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT), the RCMP, United States Customs and Border Protection, and law enforcement authorities in Mexico investigated this matter. Significant assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Canadian authorities to secure the arrest and October 2024 extradition of Sidhu.
