New Delhi: In yet another case of an Indian-origin man involved in cross-border drug trafficking, 63-year-old Guramrit Sidhu of Brampton, Ontario, Canada has been sentenced to 20 years (or 240 months) in a US federal prison for leading a syndicate that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine, worth up to $17 million, from the US into Canada in just one month.
It was found in the probe that after buying bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine in the US, Sidhu arranged for transportation into Canada via “long-haul semi-trucks for further distribution”.
He provided telephone numbers and serial numbers on bills of currency for couriers to use as “token” for identification purposes during the delivery and transportation of the narcotics, the US Department of Justice said. He, along with co-conspirators, then retrieved the cocaine and methamphetamine from locations within Canada for further distribution.
This comes just two days after law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada and Europe arrested 24 people, and unsealed indictments against members of three India-based transnational organised crime syndicates led by gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravinder Singh Dhanda as part of Operation Hard Ball.
The indictments allege that the gangs were responsible for smuggling and transporting over 1,000 kg of cocaine in separate consignments. The syndicates are said to have coordinated routes for transporting cocaine and methamphetamine on long-haul semi-trucks from the US to Canada border, and provided “protection” for these trucks while they transported narcotics for other trafficking organisations.
The indictment further alleges that the syndicate had officials of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)—the agency responsible for border security and customs enforcement—“in their pocket”.
The estimated cost of 1,000 kg of cocaine, according to Indian law enforcement, is about half a billion dollars.
According to the US DOJ, Operation Hard Ball was the result of a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates engaged in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, cross-border narcotics trafficking and other crimes, the impact of which is especially felt across the Indian diaspora.
According to a statement by the United States Attorney’s Office, Sidhu pleaded guilty on 26 March for engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, and has been in federal custody since October 2024. His plea agreement said that he had led the organisation from September 2020 to February 2023 for distribution of drugs in Canada.
In one month—from September to October 2022—Sidhu orchestrated the distribution of eight separate drug loads, totalling approximately 523 kg (1,153 pounds) of methamphetamine and 347 kg (765 pounds) of cocaine, which were seized by law enforcement. These drug loads had an estimated wholesale value of approximately $15 million (Rs 144 crore) to $17 million (Rs 162 crore), the agency said.
The statement added that 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.”
This case, it said, is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion.
“HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organisations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad,” it further said. “Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organisations, which have long fuelled violence and instability within our borders.”