A Canadian national has pleaded guilty to leading a criminal organization that transported hundreds of kilograms of meth and cocaine from the United States to Canada, worth up to $17 million.
Guramrit Sidhu, 62, of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, has admitted to one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, according to a press statement from the United States Attorney’s Office. Sidhu is the principal defendant in a 23-count federal indictment filed in January 2024 against a narcotics trafficking ring. He has been in federal custody since October 2024, after being extradited from Canada.
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From September 2020 to February 2023, Sidhu commanded a group that trafficked pharmaceuticals from the United States into Canada for distribution. Between September 13, 2022, and October 24, 2022, Sidhu orchestrated the distribution of eight consecutive narcotics loads, including about 523 kilos of methamphetamine and 347 kilograms of cocaine, which were recovered by police authorities. The estimated wholesale value of these narcotic cargoes was between $15 million and $17 million.
Sidhu arranged for the narcotics to be transported into Canada on long-haul semi-trucks for further distribution. He gave couriers telephone numbers and serial numbers on bills of currency to serve as a “token” for identification during the delivery and transit of cocaine and methamphetamine. Sidhu and co-conspirators then gathered the cocaine and methamphetamine from various places in Canada for further distribution.
United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt has scheduled a July 9 sentencing hearing for Sidhu, who faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Sidhu is the seventh defendant to plead guilty in this case; several others have previously been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from 27 to 108 months.
The investigation was carried out by the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, US Customs and Border Protection, and Mexican law enforcement authorities. Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration provided significant support. Kelly Larocque, Assistant United States Attorney for the Transnational Organized Crime Section, is prosecuting the case.
