Colombian man gets 27 years for helping run global fentanyl trafficking ring from Quebec prison

The Correctional Service of Canada estimates the institutional value of the found items, which included handmade weapons, cannabis concentrates, cellphones and memory cards, at $124,600. (Source: Pexels.com)

A Colombian man who helped lead an international fentanyl trafficking network inside a prison east of Montreal has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Daniel Vivas Ceron, 42, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $11,048.43 in restitution after his arrest in Operation Denial.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) operation led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force resulted in charges being laid against 34 people, including three people from Montreal.

Ceron was extradited from Panama to the U.S. in 2017 and later pleaded guilty in 2019 to several charges, including continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues resulting in serious bodily injury and death.

He admitted to leading the drug operation with the co-accused Jason Berry from the medium-security Drummond Institution in Drummondville, Que., the justice department said.

"Using a cell phone from inside the prison, Ceron and Berry arranged shipments of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues from China to Canada and the United States as part of this criminal enterprise. The distribution of these substances led to fatal and non-fatal overdoses in North Dakota, Oregon, New Jersey, and North Carolina," a DOJ news release said.

Last week, Xuan Cahn Nguyen, a 43-year-old man from Montreal who went by the name "Jackie Chan," was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the global drug trafficking scheme. The Quebecer helped Ceron and Berry run the operation from the Drummondville institution and pleaded guilty on March 14 to conspiracy to distribute and import controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death and money laundering conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Berry, a 40-year-old man from Cornwall, Ont., was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to various charges on July 29, 2022.

2 QUEBECERS STILL TO BE SENTENCED

"This international investigation is an excellent example of the results that can be achieved when multiple law enforcement partners combine their efforts and expertise, and it has had a significant impact for our communities. Thanks to the collaboration of the various stakeholders, we have successfully neutralized a criminal network involved in major trafficking of a highly dangerous substance between Canada and the United States," said Supt. Karine Gagné of the RCMP, in the release.

The long list of defendants in the case also includes two other Quebecers who are set to be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Montrealer Vannek Um, 45, pleaded guilty on March 14 to money laundering conspiracy and will be sentenced on Aug. 8.

Marie Um, also of Montreal and went by the name "Angry Bird", will be sentenced on Sept. 5 after the 42-year-old was found guilty of conspiracy to several charges in April after a two-and-a-half-week trial.

Officials say the investigation started in North Dakota on Jan. 3, 2015, after the overdose death of 18-year-old Bailey Henke in Grand Forks, N.D.

The DOJ operation resulted in the seizure of $1 million in cash and property from those involved in the criminal enterprise.