Canadian Drug Trafficking Kingpin Sentenced In LA To 20 Years In Prison

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Canadian man who admitted leading a major international drug trafficking organization that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico, through Los Angeles and into Canada has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors announced Friday.

Guramrit Sidhu, 63, of Brampton, Ontario, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt after pleading guilty in March to engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal authorities said Sidhu led a sophisticated trafficking organization that operated from September 2020 through February 2023, purchasing large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine in the U.S. and arranging for the drugs to be transported into Canada for distribution.

During a roughly six-week period between Sept. 13 and Oct. 24, 2022, investigators intercepted eight separate shipments totaling about 523 kilograms of methamphetamine and 347 kilograms of cocaine — more than 1,900 pounds of drugs combined.

Prosecutors said the seized drugs had an estimated wholesale value between $15 million and $17 million.

Sidhu coordinated the deliveries by using long-haul semi-trucks to move the drugs across the border. He also provided couriers with specific telephone numbers and serial numbers from currency bills that served as identification "tokens" during drug exchanges, prosecutors said.

Once the shipments reached Canada, Sidhu and his associates retrieved the narcotics for further distribution, prosecutors said.

Sidhu has remained in federal custody since being extradited from Canada in October 2024.

He is the eighth defendant to plead guilty in the case. Other members of the trafficking organization have received federal prison sentences ranging from 27 months to nine years.