Global Courant 2023-05-16 03:41:00
A suspect who was on a US “Ten Most Wanted List” was extradited from Canada this week to face charges of drug trafficking in the US.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan announced on Friday, 41-year-old Khaophone Sychantha, a dual national of Laos and Canada, was first indicted by a grand jury in December 2005.
Sychantha was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, BZP, ecstasy and marijuana between 2003 and 2011. He was also charged with three counts of possession with intent to distribute ecstasy and methamphetamine.
Following these US charges, Sychantha was arrested in Canada and charged with three other criminal charges. Following Sychantha’s escape from house arrest in Canada, he was added to the US Homeland Security Investigation’s (HSI) Ten Most Wanted List, which offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
In 2017, after assaulting a police officer, Sychanta was arrested in Montreal and is in Canadian custody as he appeals his extradition to the US.
Sychanta first appeared in U.S. federal court in Detroit on Thursday.
U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said in a press release that she “commends the work of HSI and Canadian law enforcement agents in pursuing this longtime fugitive and high profile drug trafficker.”
“Thanks to the coordinated efforts of our international partners, Sychantha will now face trial in the United States.”
Angie Salazar, HSI Detroit special agent, says these developments represent a step toward justice.
“HSI will continue to work with our partners, both in the United States and around the world, to hold criminals accountable,” Salazar said in the press release.
“More than a decade has passed since this research began. I am proud of the HSI special agents, prosecutors and law enforcement officers who have not let the passage of time stop them from bringing the accused to justice.”
