Canadian Convicted & Sentenced For Multi-Year Drug Smuggling Operation

Sunday, June 8, 2025, 4:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

DETROIT, MI.- Last week, a 43-year-old Canadian man who was on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Most Wanted List and led an eight-year drug trafficking conspiracy that was responsible for the smuggling and distribution of hundreds of thousands of pills containing methamphetamine, ecstasy, and BZP into the United States will be spending the next two decades in federal prison after being convicted and sentenced for federal narcotics violations

     According to U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., following a six-day trial in Federal Court in Detroit, Michigan, before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sean F. Cox, a jury for the Eastern District of Michigan found Khaophone Sychantha, 43, formerly of Lakeshore, Ontario, guilty of one count of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, Methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and BZP; one count of Possession of Controlled Substances, Methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and BZP; and one count of Possession of Controlled Substances, Methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and BZP.

Sychantha Receives 20 Years In Prison Following Being Convicted

     On Wednesday, June 3, 2025, Sychantha appeared in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and was sentenced by Judge Cox to 240 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Because Sychantha is not a United States citizen, he will be deported back to Canada following the completion of his federal prison sentence.

     “In order to be a nation, we must have secure borders. Americans need to be protected from transnational criminals dumping their dangerous drugs into our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.

Evidence Presented At Trial

     Evidence presented at trial proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Sychantha led an organization that directed several couriers to transport hundreds of thousands of pills and tens of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds across the United States-Canada border over an eight-year span. His couriers, many of whom were caught and convicted themselves, traveled to multiple states to deliver the pills. David Sok, Sychantha’s right-hand man, was also extradited from Canada and pleaded guilty earlier in the proceedings. 

     Before Sychantha’s extradition to the United States, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI-Detroit) added Sychantha to Homeland Security’s Most Wanted List.