A Canadian national who was accused of trafficking hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine from the U.S. into Canada was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after reaching a plea agreement with authorities, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.
Guramrit Sidhu, 63, of Brampton admitted to transporting the drugs between September 2020 and February 2023, according to the plea agreement, by driving eight truck loads across the U.S.-Canada border, totaling approximately 1,153 pounds methamphetamine and 765 pounds of cocaine.
The drug loads, which are worth between $15 million and $17 million, were ultimately seized by authorities, the DOJ said.
Federal investigators said Sidhu bought the drugs in bulk in the U.S. then arranged long-haul semi-tucks so the narcotics can be transported into Canada.
Sidhu provided telephone numbers and serial numbers on bills of currency for couriers to use for identification purposes during the delivery and transportation of the drugs, federal prosecutors alleged.
Once the drugs arrived in Canada, Sidhu and his colleagues planned to distribute them across the country, the DOJ said.
Sidhu was the eight person to be arrested by federal authorities and plead guilty via a plea agreement. Seven others had already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to two to nine years in federal prison.
The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, United States Customs and Border Protection, and law enforcement authorities in Mexico work together to arrest and prosecutor Sidhu and his co-conspirators, the DOJ explained.
Sidhu had been in Canada when the Justice Department worked with Canadian authorities to arrest and extradite him in 2024.