Brampton man sentenced to 20 years in U.S. for trafficking drugs using transport trucks

Brampton man sentenced to 20 years in U.S. for trafficking drugs using transport trucks

Guramrit Sidhu, 63, sentenced on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice says

A Brampton, Ont., man has been sentenced to 20 years in U.S. federal prison for leading a criminal organization that trafficked drugs worth up to $17 million US into Canada.

Guramrit Sidhu, 63, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

In a news release Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Sidhu pleaded guilty in March to one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He has been in U.S. custody since 2024.

According to a plea agreement, Sidhu led an organization responsible for trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine, using long-haul transport trucks, from the U.S. into Canada from September 2020 to February 2023 for distribution.

In a period of just over a month, from Sept. 13, 2022 to Oct. 24, 2022, Sidhu oversaw the distribution of eight drug loads that amounted to about 523 kilograms of methamphetamine and 347 kilograms of cocaine, all of which was seized by U.S. police, according to the agreement.

The wholesale value of the drug loads is estimated to be about $15 million to $17 million, the news release says.

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After buying the drugs in bulk in the U.S., Sidhu arranged for the methamphetamine and cocaine to be transported into Canada through transport trucks for further distribution, the release says.

He 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 drugs.

According to the plea agreement, Sidhu and co-conspirators then retrieved the methamphetamine and cocaine from places within Canada to be distributed.

Sidhu is the eighth defendant to plead guilty in the case. Other defendants have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and have been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from more than two years to nine years.