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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan says a 41-year-old man on the country’s 10 Most Wanted list has been extradited from Canada to the United States to face drug trafficking charges in Detroit.
Katay-Khaophone Sychanta, who has Canadian and Laotian citizenship, was arrested in the Montreal area after an attack on police officers and a short chase in 2017.
Since his 2017 arrest, Sychantha has remained in custody in Canada as he contests extradition to the US along with two Canadian co-defendants.
He was first charged in the US in 2005 and again in 2013, then charged in three separate cases in Canada, where he escaped from house arrest in 2014.
He has been charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, ecstasy, benzylpiperazine and marijuana between 2003 and 2011. He has also been charged with three counts of possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and ecstasy.
After this American indictment, Sychantha fled while under house arrest in Canada in 2014. He was charged and arrested in Canada in three separate Canadian criminal cases.
When Sychanta was arrested by two bike patrol officers in Montreal, he had successfully eluded the police for 10 years and was suspected of being the kingpin of an international drug and money smuggling ring – landing him in the US Department of Homeland Security. 10 Most Wanted list.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest.
Sychantha made an initial appearance in federal court in Detroit Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony P. Patti.
“I commend the work of agents from HSI and Canadian law enforcement to pursue this long-time fugitive and outstanding drug trafficker,” said US Attorney Dawn N. Ison in a news release.
The prosecutor’s office said the indictment was not proof the defendant committed the crime he was charged with, as he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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