Canadian trucking VP to serve 10 years in US prison for running cocaine smuggling ring
The vice president of a Canadian trucking company based in Quebec has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the US for leading a cocaine smuggling ring that involved hiding the substance in a hidden tractor-trailer compartment.
According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of New York, Guillaume Latour-Laitre, 27, of Prevost, Quebec, admitted that between November 2019 and December 2019, he trafficked cocaine from the US to Canada.
The Canadian trucking VP previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
On December 7, 2019, his co-conspirator and employee, Jason Nelson, tried to leave the US for Canada via the Derby Line, Vermont Port of Entry.
At the border, US Customs and Border Protection Officers inspected Nelson’s tractor-trailer and found about 142 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a secret compartment inside.
Nelson was sentenced to six years in prison and five months of supervised release in April 2022.
Latour-Laitre was extradited from Canada in December 2022 to face his charges.
US District Judge David N. Hurd imposed a five-year term of supervised release for Latour-Laitre, which will begin when he is released from prison. The US attorney’s office noted that he also may be removed or deported from the US, upon his release.
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