Former Lakeshore resident convicted for drug smuggling in the U.S.

A former Lakeshore, Ont., resident who was once on Homeland Security's most wanted listhas been found guilty on drug trafficking charges inthe United States.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement this week thatevidence shows that over the span of eight years,the 43-year-old 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."

The man is a dual citizen of Canada and Laos and in 2015, a reward of $25,000 was being offered for information leading to his arrest.

Prior to hisextradition to the United States, the U.S. attorney's officesaid in a statement, the manfled house arrest in Canada and Homeland Security in Detroit "added him to the Homeland Security Investigations' 10 Most Wanted List."

The man was arrested in Montreal in 2017 after allegedly assaulting a police officer, the statement says.

Following a six-day trial, hewas convicted of the following:

• Conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, ecstasy, and BZP(one count).
• Possession of methamphetamine, ecstasy, and BZP with intent to distribute (one count).
• Possession of ecstasy and BZP with intent to distribute (one count).

The Lakeshore native is facing a mandatory 10-year prison sentence, with a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.Heremains in custody pending sentencing.