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RCMP civilian intelligence analysts make more work for uniformed RCMP members...
Canada/US Border Integrity Thread
- Thread starter brihard
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Hey! That was like one time….
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Well there was that one guy, yeah. Though in defense of their analysts, he was an executive.
PrairieFella
Army.ca Veteran
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I may work for IRCC...IRPA is always a headache lol
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Haggis
Army.ca Fixture
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Totally agree. But program officers and "pet" project managers don't catch smugglers, even though they are "personnel".
I'm jaded enough to see what may happen based on "growth promise" experiences in almost 5 decades in my agency and the green machine.
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What's the biggest challenge?
Haggis
Army.ca Fixture
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People
Not sure I buy the 89% stat without seeing how they’re measuring it. But one thing’s for sure, adding aerial assets means they’re expecting more than just families showing up with bags. When this stuff edges into homeland security territory, legal oversight gets tricky. Feds usually bring in teams like Oberheiden to keep agency actions clean under international law, they’ve handled DOJ and border-related scrutiny before
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An intriguing case with a Canadian involved, tracked by courtwatch.news ...
www.courtwatch.news
Excerpt of the latest roundup shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...
"... International Drug Ring Revealed
An arrest in Nevada reveals international and American law enforcement are chasing a sophisticated drug network that shipped hundreds of pounds of meth around the globe and into the U.S. The charging documents, which haven't been previously reported, show that the operation is targeting smugglers in China, Australia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States.
The investigation, according to court records, began in Ankara in June 2022, when the DEA’s attaché office in Turkey recruited a confidential source in a major drug trafficking organization. The source, identified only in court records by the alias “Queen,” played a central role in helping undercover DEA agents infiltrate the transnational trafficking network. At the behest of DEA agents, Queen reportedly embedded herself within the organization, earning the trust of one purported leader, a Canadian man named Opinder Singh Sian, after she promised to help the traffickers move shipments through Los Angeles.
In his conversations with Queen, Sian came across as well-connected in the criminal underworld, allegedly mentioning his various ties to the Italian mob, a prominent Turkish drug kingpin who has been on the run since 2018, and the Kinahan Family, a powerful Irish organized crime syndicate. Queen reported their discussions back to the DEA, which arranged for her to introduce an undercover agent to Sian at a lunch meeting in Southwest L.A. On March 28, 2023, the three met at a restaurant on Manhattan beach, where the undercover agent – posing as one of Queen’s family members – reportedly told Sian that he could help smuggle shipments of meth by recruiting a cousin who worked at the Port of Long Beach.
Beginning in June 2023, Queen and Sian coordinated with the undercover agent to purportedly move hundreds of pounds of meth through the port in L.A. to a final destination of Sydney, Australia. According to the criminal complaint, the undercover agent, Queen, and Sian planned for Sian’s lieutenants, including one who went by “Darth Vader,” to meet with a second undercover DEA agent and Queen’s courier, “Lalo,” to handover the shipments of meth at a residence in nearby Pomona. Yet, instead of smuggling the meth to Australia, Lalo and the undercover agent acted as interceptors, giving the hundreds of pounds of meth to law enforcement, who sent it to a DEA lab for testing.
The DEA also enlisted the help of Australian law enforcement, which went so far as to concoct a fake batch of drugs to look like the meth seemingly bound for Sydney. An Australian undercover law enforcement officer then delivered the fake batch, which contained a tracking device, to Sian’s alleged associates based in Australia. The sting reportedly led Australian police to a stash house, which law enforcement eventually raided.
As the DEA’s investigation went on, Sian reportedly introduced Queen to multiple of his associates in the trafficking network, giving agents an unfettered window into the smuggling operation and its participants. Sian purportedly used the encrypted messaging app Threema, a competitor to the more well-regarded app Signal, to chat with Queen and to add her to groups with other reported traffickers in order to introduce them. A filing in the case indicates law enforcement was able to identify many of the alleged traffickers Queen messaged, including the ones who used pseudonyms as their usernames.
Court records also detail how Sian agreed to a plan with Queen to expand the network’s trafficking operations by shipping chemicals to produce fentanyl in the U.S. According to the complaint, Sian told Queen he could procure shipments from China of the precursor chemicals and arranged for a sit-down in a Vancouver coffee shop between Queen and two of his associates who run a Canadian trucking company. At the sit-down, the two men allegedly offered to help Queen smuggle the Chinese-made chemicals by receiving the shipments in Vancouver and moving them over the U.S. border. One of the truckers reportedly confided in Queen that he wanted to make money as a smuggler because his wife was “greedy” and wanted him to earn more money for their family.
Last week, law enforcement netted at least one of the key players in the purported trafficking ring when it arrested Sian in Nevada. A filing in the case revealed that law enforcement allowed him to enter the U.S. from Canada so they could arrest him to face prosecution. On Monday, a judge ordered for him to be detained pending trial, noting Sian “is alleged to have been involved in a large-scale drug operation involving approximately 520 pounds of Fentanyl. The defendant is alleged to be a member of a criminal gang and is alleged to have ties to international hitmen.” He is currently scheduled to be transferred on July 21st to face charges in the Central District of California.
The U.S. Attorney’s office of the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the case, had no comment on the charges. A lawyer for Sian did not respond to an inquiry from Court Watch. The Australian Embassy in D.C. directed us to their Department of Foreign Affairs, which did not respond ..."
More in the court docs attached.
#133: International Hitmen and Transnational Drug Dealers
An exclusive about a global drug bust. Plus: Safe Spaces, ChatGPT trips up a good lawyer, T-Rex Skull, J6er gets Life, and Vanity Fair Sued.
www.courtwatch.news
"... International Drug Ring Revealed
An arrest in Nevada reveals international and American law enforcement are chasing a sophisticated drug network that shipped hundreds of pounds of meth around the globe and into the U.S. The charging documents, which haven't been previously reported, show that the operation is targeting smugglers in China, Australia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States.
The investigation, according to court records, began in Ankara in June 2022, when the DEA’s attaché office in Turkey recruited a confidential source in a major drug trafficking organization. The source, identified only in court records by the alias “Queen,” played a central role in helping undercover DEA agents infiltrate the transnational trafficking network. At the behest of DEA agents, Queen reportedly embedded herself within the organization, earning the trust of one purported leader, a Canadian man named Opinder Singh Sian, after she promised to help the traffickers move shipments through Los Angeles.
In his conversations with Queen, Sian came across as well-connected in the criminal underworld, allegedly mentioning his various ties to the Italian mob, a prominent Turkish drug kingpin who has been on the run since 2018, and the Kinahan Family, a powerful Irish organized crime syndicate. Queen reported their discussions back to the DEA, which arranged for her to introduce an undercover agent to Sian at a lunch meeting in Southwest L.A. On March 28, 2023, the three met at a restaurant on Manhattan beach, where the undercover agent – posing as one of Queen’s family members – reportedly told Sian that he could help smuggle shipments of meth by recruiting a cousin who worked at the Port of Long Beach.
Beginning in June 2023, Queen and Sian coordinated with the undercover agent to purportedly move hundreds of pounds of meth through the port in L.A. to a final destination of Sydney, Australia. According to the criminal complaint, the undercover agent, Queen, and Sian planned for Sian’s lieutenants, including one who went by “Darth Vader,” to meet with a second undercover DEA agent and Queen’s courier, “Lalo,” to handover the shipments of meth at a residence in nearby Pomona. Yet, instead of smuggling the meth to Australia, Lalo and the undercover agent acted as interceptors, giving the hundreds of pounds of meth to law enforcement, who sent it to a DEA lab for testing.
The DEA also enlisted the help of Australian law enforcement, which went so far as to concoct a fake batch of drugs to look like the meth seemingly bound for Sydney. An Australian undercover law enforcement officer then delivered the fake batch, which contained a tracking device, to Sian’s alleged associates based in Australia. The sting reportedly led Australian police to a stash house, which law enforcement eventually raided.
As the DEA’s investigation went on, Sian reportedly introduced Queen to multiple of his associates in the trafficking network, giving agents an unfettered window into the smuggling operation and its participants. Sian purportedly used the encrypted messaging app Threema, a competitor to the more well-regarded app Signal, to chat with Queen and to add her to groups with other reported traffickers in order to introduce them. A filing in the case indicates law enforcement was able to identify many of the alleged traffickers Queen messaged, including the ones who used pseudonyms as their usernames.
Court records also detail how Sian agreed to a plan with Queen to expand the network’s trafficking operations by shipping chemicals to produce fentanyl in the U.S. According to the complaint, Sian told Queen he could procure shipments from China of the precursor chemicals and arranged for a sit-down in a Vancouver coffee shop between Queen and two of his associates who run a Canadian trucking company. At the sit-down, the two men allegedly offered to help Queen smuggle the Chinese-made chemicals by receiving the shipments in Vancouver and moving them over the U.S. border. One of the truckers reportedly confided in Queen that he wanted to make money as a smuggler because his wife was “greedy” and wanted him to earn more money for their family.
Last week, law enforcement netted at least one of the key players in the purported trafficking ring when it arrested Sian in Nevada. A filing in the case revealed that law enforcement allowed him to enter the U.S. from Canada so they could arrest him to face prosecution. On Monday, a judge ordered for him to be detained pending trial, noting Sian “is alleged to have been involved in a large-scale drug operation involving approximately 520 pounds of Fentanyl. The defendant is alleged to be a member of a criminal gang and is alleged to have ties to international hitmen.” He is currently scheduled to be transferred on July 21st to face charges in the Central District of California.
The U.S. Attorney’s office of the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the case, had no comment on the charges. A lawyer for Sian did not respond to an inquiry from Court Watch. The Australian Embassy in D.C. directed us to their Department of Foreign Affairs, which did not respond ..."
More in the court docs attached.
Damn, that’s a very complex operation. Nicely done!An intriguing case with a Canadian involved, tracked by courtwatch.news ...
Excerpt of the latest roundup shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...#133: International Hitmen and Transnational Drug Dealers
An exclusive about a global drug bust. Plus: Safe Spaces, ChatGPT trips up a good lawyer, T-Rex Skull, J6er gets Life, and Vanity Fair Sued.
"... International Drug Ring Revealed
An arrest in Nevada reveals international and American law enforcement are chasing a sophisticated drug network that shipped hundreds of pounds of meth around the globe and into the U.S. The charging documents, which haven't been previously reported, show that the operation is targeting smugglers in China, Australia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States.
The investigation, according to court records, began in Ankara in June 2022, when the DEA’s attaché office in Turkey recruited a confidential source in a major drug trafficking organization. The source, identified only in court records by the alias “Queen,” played a central role in helping undercover DEA agents infiltrate the transnational trafficking network. At the behest of DEA agents, Queen reportedly embedded herself within the organization, earning the trust of one purported leader, a Canadian man named Opinder Singh Sian, after she promised to help the traffickers move shipments through Los Angeles.
In his conversations with Queen, Sian came across as well-connected in the criminal underworld, allegedly mentioning his various ties to the Italian mob, a prominent Turkish drug kingpin who has been on the run since 2018, and the Kinahan Family, a powerful Irish organized crime syndicate. Queen reported their discussions back to the DEA, which arranged for her to introduce an undercover agent to Sian at a lunch meeting in Southwest L.A. On March 28, 2023, the three met at a restaurant on Manhattan beach, where the undercover agent – posing as one of Queen’s family members – reportedly told Sian that he could help smuggle shipments of meth by recruiting a cousin who worked at the Port of Long Beach.
Beginning in June 2023, Queen and Sian coordinated with the undercover agent to purportedly move hundreds of pounds of meth through the port in L.A. to a final destination of Sydney, Australia. According to the criminal complaint, the undercover agent, Queen, and Sian planned for Sian’s lieutenants, including one who went by “Darth Vader,” to meet with a second undercover DEA agent and Queen’s courier, “Lalo,” to handover the shipments of meth at a residence in nearby Pomona. Yet, instead of smuggling the meth to Australia, Lalo and the undercover agent acted as interceptors, giving the hundreds of pounds of meth to law enforcement, who sent it to a DEA lab for testing.
The DEA also enlisted the help of Australian law enforcement, which went so far as to concoct a fake batch of drugs to look like the meth seemingly bound for Sydney. An Australian undercover law enforcement officer then delivered the fake batch, which contained a tracking device, to Sian’s alleged associates based in Australia. The sting reportedly led Australian police to a stash house, which law enforcement eventually raided.
As the DEA’s investigation went on, Sian reportedly introduced Queen to multiple of his associates in the trafficking network, giving agents an unfettered window into the smuggling operation and its participants. Sian purportedly used the encrypted messaging app Threema, a competitor to the more well-regarded app Signal, to chat with Queen and to add her to groups with other reported traffickers in order to introduce them. A filing in the case indicates law enforcement was able to identify many of the alleged traffickers Queen messaged, including the ones who used pseudonyms as their usernames.
Court records also detail how Sian agreed to a plan with Queen to expand the network’s trafficking operations by shipping chemicals to produce fentanyl in the U.S. According to the complaint, Sian told Queen he could procure shipments from China of the precursor chemicals and arranged for a sit-down in a Vancouver coffee shop between Queen and two of his associates who run a Canadian trucking company. At the sit-down, the two men allegedly offered to help Queen smuggle the Chinese-made chemicals by receiving the shipments in Vancouver and moving them over the U.S. border. One of the truckers reportedly confided in Queen that he wanted to make money as a smuggler because his wife was “greedy” and wanted him to earn more money for their family.
Last week, law enforcement netted at least one of the key players in the purported trafficking ring when it arrested Sian in Nevada. A filing in the case revealed that law enforcement allowed him to enter the U.S. from Canada so they could arrest him to face prosecution. On Monday, a judge ordered for him to be detained pending trial, noting Sian “is alleged to have been involved in a large-scale drug operation involving approximately 520 pounds of Fentanyl. The defendant is alleged to be a member of a criminal gang and is alleged to have ties to international hitmen.” He is currently scheduled to be transferred on July 21st to face charges in the Central District of California.
The U.S. Attorney’s office of the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the case, had no comment on the charges. A lawyer for Sian did not respond to an inquiry from Court Watch. The Australian Embassy in D.C. directed us to their Department of Foreign Affairs, which did not respond ..."
More in the court docs attached.
Thanks for posting this - court docs n' all!!An intriguing case with a Canadian involved, tracked by courtwatch.news ...
Excerpt of the latest roundup shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...#133: International Hitmen and Transnational Drug Dealers
An exclusive about a global drug bust. Plus: Safe Spaces, ChatGPT trips up a good lawyer, T-Rex Skull, J6er gets Life, and Vanity Fair Sued.
"... International Drug Ring Revealed
An arrest in Nevada reveals international and American law enforcement are chasing a sophisticated drug network that shipped hundreds of pounds of meth around the globe and into the U.S. The charging documents, which haven't been previously reported, show that the operation is targeting smugglers in China, Australia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States.
The investigation, according to court records, began in Ankara in June 2022, when the DEA’s attaché office in Turkey recruited a confidential source in a major drug trafficking organization. The source, identified only in court records by the alias “Queen,” played a central role in helping undercover DEA agents infiltrate the transnational trafficking network. At the behest of DEA agents, Queen reportedly embedded herself within the organization, earning the trust of one purported leader, a Canadian man named Opinder Singh Sian, after she promised to help the traffickers move shipments through Los Angeles.
In his conversations with Queen, Sian came across as well-connected in the criminal underworld, allegedly mentioning his various ties to the Italian mob, a prominent Turkish drug kingpin who has been on the run since 2018, and the Kinahan Family, a powerful Irish organized crime syndicate. Queen reported their discussions back to the DEA, which arranged for her to introduce an undercover agent to Sian at a lunch meeting in Southwest L.A. On March 28, 2023, the three met at a restaurant on Manhattan beach, where the undercover agent – posing as one of Queen’s family members – reportedly told Sian that he could help smuggle shipments of meth by recruiting a cousin who worked at the Port of Long Beach.
Beginning in June 2023, Queen and Sian coordinated with the undercover agent to purportedly move hundreds of pounds of meth through the port in L.A. to a final destination of Sydney, Australia. According to the criminal complaint, the undercover agent, Queen, and Sian planned for Sian’s lieutenants, including one who went by “Darth Vader,” to meet with a second undercover DEA agent and Queen’s courier, “Lalo,” to handover the shipments of meth at a residence in nearby Pomona. Yet, instead of smuggling the meth to Australia, Lalo and the undercover agent acted as interceptors, giving the hundreds of pounds of meth to law enforcement, who sent it to a DEA lab for testing.
The DEA also enlisted the help of Australian law enforcement, which went so far as to concoct a fake batch of drugs to look like the meth seemingly bound for Sydney. An Australian undercover law enforcement officer then delivered the fake batch, which contained a tracking device, to Sian’s alleged associates based in Australia. The sting reportedly led Australian police to a stash house, which law enforcement eventually raided.
As the DEA’s investigation went on, Sian reportedly introduced Queen to multiple of his associates in the trafficking network, giving agents an unfettered window into the smuggling operation and its participants. Sian purportedly used the encrypted messaging app Threema, a competitor to the more well-regarded app Signal, to chat with Queen and to add her to groups with other reported traffickers in order to introduce them. A filing in the case indicates law enforcement was able to identify many of the alleged traffickers Queen messaged, including the ones who used pseudonyms as their usernames.
Court records also detail how Sian agreed to a plan with Queen to expand the network’s trafficking operations by shipping chemicals to produce fentanyl in the U.S. According to the complaint, Sian told Queen he could procure shipments from China of the precursor chemicals and arranged for a sit-down in a Vancouver coffee shop between Queen and two of his associates who run a Canadian trucking company. At the sit-down, the two men allegedly offered to help Queen smuggle the Chinese-made chemicals by receiving the shipments in Vancouver and moving them over the U.S. border. One of the truckers reportedly confided in Queen that he wanted to make money as a smuggler because his wife was “greedy” and wanted him to earn more money for their family.
Last week, law enforcement netted at least one of the key players in the purported trafficking ring when it arrested Sian in Nevada. A filing in the case revealed that law enforcement allowed him to enter the U.S. from Canada so they could arrest him to face prosecution. On Monday, a judge ordered for him to be detained pending trial, noting Sian “is alleged to have been involved in a large-scale drug operation involving approximately 520 pounds of Fentanyl. The defendant is alleged to be a member of a criminal gang and is alleged to have ties to international hitmen.” He is currently scheduled to be transferred on July 21st to face charges in the Central District of California.
The U.S. Attorney’s office of the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the case, had no comment on the charges. A lawyer for Sian did not respond to an inquiry from Court Watch. The Australian Embassy in D.C. directed us to their Department of Foreign Affairs, which did not respond ..."
More in the court docs attached.
Great find! And agree with @brihard a very complex operation!
(Now let's hope California doesn't bugger up the prosecution...)
- Reaction score
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More stats showing where the fentanyl crossing problem is (yellow highlights mine) ....
manhattan.institute
True, they're looking at "large" grabs, but still another tile in the info-mosaic.
Study also attached if link doesn't work. Summary by The Canadian Press:
www.thecanadianpressnews.ca
Fentanyl at the Gates: Comparing Large Seizures at the U.S.–Mexican and U.S.–Canadian Borders
Illegally manufactured fentanyl (IMF) kills enormous numbers of people in the U.S. and Canada. Since the emergence of modern heroin markets in the late 1960s, supply control has been associated with meaningful reductions in opioid use and harms in at least six cases worldwide. However...
manhattan.institute
True, they're looking at "large" grabs, but still another tile in the info-mosaic.
Study also attached if link doesn't work. Summary by The Canadian Press:
New report says vast majority of U.S. fentanyl seizures linked to southern border
WASHINGTON - A new report from a New York-based think tank questions the drug trafficking rationale for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, saying the data shows the vast
- Reaction score
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Ooopsie …. 
www.ctvnews.ca
www.newsweek.com
www.yahoo.com
Quebec man warning Canadian boaters after he was detained by U.S. Coast guard, put in jail cell
A Quebec man says he is outraged after the U.S. Coast Guard accused him of fishing in American waters and then arrested him before putting him in a jail cell for nearly two hours.
www.ctvnews.ca
Canadian man furious after U.S. Coast Guard cross 'border' to arrest him
The detention of 60-year-old Edouard Lallemand has prompted outrage from him and his wife and raised questions about enforcement on shared waterways.
www.newsweek.com
Coast Guard Arrested a Canadian Man. He Says He Wasn’t in U.S. Waters.
Fisherman Edouard Lallemand is accusing the U.S. Coast Guard of kidnapping him.
- Reaction score
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If he had a GPS-enabled phone it should be pretty easy to establish whether he had crossed the line. Then again, US authorities probably don't care.Ooopsie ….
Quebec man warning Canadian boaters after he was detained by U.S. Coast guard, put in jail cell
A Quebec man says he is outraged after the U.S. Coast Guard accused him of fishing in American waters and then arrested him before putting him in a jail cell for nearly two hours.Canadian man furious after U.S. Coast Guard cross 'border' to arrest him
The detention of 60-year-old Edouard Lallemand has prompted outrage from him and his wife and raised questions about enforcement on shared waterways.Coast Guard Arrested a Canadian Man. He Says He Wasn’t in U.S. Waters.
Fisherman Edouard Lallemand is accusing the U.S. Coast Guard of kidnapping him.
I lean towards assuming USCG had good navigational equipment… probably better than the guy fishing. The Coasties tend not to be belligerent twits.
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And they don't tend to wear masks to work, either.
Oldgateboatdriver
Army.ca Fixture
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Look, we (HMCS Donnacona) used to patrol part of that area from time to time (Richelieu River - tip of Lake Champlain) and I've been on some of those patrols (disclosure: late 90's early 2000's). We had a good relationship with the Coast Guard and Border Patrol, a somewhat colder one with some Sherriff's dept. (some of them are real pricks thinking they are the the sole defenders of freedom or something). But that portion of the lake, near the border, is full of boaters and is not necessarily too well marked (there are no border indicating buoys at all and no large, visible signs ashore). Boaters from both nations drift over the border all the time. However, unless they tried to land or clearly enter the other nation with obvious intent to stay, the practice for Coasties/RCN/RCMP/Border Patrol was simply to approach the drifter and inform them that, perhaps they didn't notice but they drifted into the other nation's waters, then point them the right way.
So this is a change - for the worst - by the Coast Guard, and it fits right in to the current narrative (probably correct) that many American officers serving in US Homeland security feel emboldened by the current US administration to let their "total-prick" side take over in circumstances that don't require it.
So this is a change - for the worst - by the Coast Guard, and it fits right in to the current narrative (probably correct) that many American officers serving in US Homeland security feel emboldened by the current US administration to let their "total-prick" side take over in circumstances that don't require it.
PrairieFella
Army.ca Veteran
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So im taking from this that in this day and age, we should be investing in the demarcation of our border waters to prevent prices from getting overzealous.
