A Surrey man with alleged links to the international drug trade has been arrested in the United States, court documents show.
Opinder Singh Sian has been arrested and held in custody in connection with allegedly attempting to traffic 530 lbs. of methamphetamine from Los Angeles to Australia.
In an d by the Surrey Now-Leader, it states that Sian had been charged with conspiracy to export at least 50 grams of methamphetamine. The alleged trafficking occurred on or around the summer of 2023 in Los Angeles.
Court documents allege that Sian is an "alleged member of a criminal gang" and had links with the Irish organized crime Kinahan family and Italian and Canadian organized crime groups. The Vancouver Sun noted that Sian was also linked to the B.C.-based Brother Keepers gang.
DEA inserts undercover source
In June 2022, a special agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)'s high-intensity drug trafficking area group received a tip from the DEA's Ankara, Turkey office about inserting a confidential source into an international drug trafficking organization. The organization allegedly needed help from someone acting as the transportation coordinator for moving drugs from Los Angeles to Australia.
A member from the drug trafficking organization in Turkey spoke with the source on the phone and gave them Sian's number. The warrant notes that Sian was living in Vancouver at the time, but the Vancouver Sun article noted his connections to Surrey.
Sian and the source met in person and spoke over the phone several times, where they allegedly discussed coordinating "multiple deliveries of methamphetamine from co-conspirators" to the confidential source in Southern California for shipment to Australia.
"Sian advised the source that he and his criminal associates would be delivering a total of an estimated 500-750 kilograms of methamphetamine that would be made in separate deliveries being coordinated by Sian鈥檚 criminal associates," the court documents read.
Sian and his associates arranged for four drop-offs to the source, which would be shipped off to Australia. He created several group chats with the source and his criminal associates to arrange the deliveries 鈥� which included "approximately 30 pounds of methamphetamine on June 22, 2023; 200 pounds of methamphetamine on July 6, 2023; 100 pounds of methamphetamine on August 21, 2023; and 200 pounds of methamphetamine on August 28, 2023," the document reads.
Ultimately, in mid-October 2023, DEA and Australian law enforcement "packaged sham methamphetamine and placed a tracking device inside."
Undercover Australian officers gave the shipment to members from a drug trafficking location, who then drove it to their stash house. Authorities raided the stash house shortly afterwards and arrested the couriers.
The court documents also outline communication Sian and an associate had with the source about "offloading or selling bulk ketamine in Mexico City." At the request of the DEA, the source asked about getting precursor chemicals for fentanyl. Sian's associate asked what type of chemicals the source was interested in so he could check prices.
The associate sent the source a quote, but Sian contacted the source and said he could get them the precursor chemicals "directly." Samples were sent first so the source could "approve the product" before purchasing large amounts.
It was shipped to the post office box of an undercover law enforcement officer and examined by a DEA lab, which found that the white powdery substance was indeed a fentanyl precursor.
The court documents allege the source met with Sian several times in person in the Los Angeles and Vancouver areas, including a meeting in Vancouver with a supplier who said he could ship bulk precursor fentanyl chemicals from China to the U.S., via Vancouver.
Sian waived his right to a detention hearing in Nevada so he could have one in California. He remains in custody until he is transferred to California for a detention hearing.
