June 26, 2022
BRUNSWICK, GA: Two men from Canada and the United Kingdom have been indicted in the Southern District of Georgia.
On federal charges alleging an international operation used the Dark Web to distribute illegal drugs in the United States, with some of those drugs resulting in the deaths of two U.S. Navy petty officers.
Thomas Michael Federuik, aka “Canada1,” 59, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Paul Anthony Nicholls, aka “Nico Laeser,” 44, of Surrey, England, are charged with drug and money laundering offences, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
The charges subject Federuik and Nicholls to possible statutory penalties of a minimum of 10 years in prison, up to life, along with fines of up to $10 million and a minimum of five years of supervised release after completion of any prison term.
“The number of deaths from drug overdoses, particularly Fentanyl and its analogues, has reached a record high in the United States and every citizen of this country should be alarmed.
The prevalence of this drug is, in large part, fueled by an illicit pipeline of illegally imported drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Estes.
“This investigation sought to trace that pipeline to its source to cut off its flow to our country in an effort to protect our citizens from harm.”
The investigation, dubbed Operation Canada1, began in October 2017 with the separate deaths of two U.S. Navy petty officers in Kingsland, Ga., that were attributed to Fentanyl-related drug overdoses.
The source of the drugs was traced to a Dark Web vendor using Canadian-postmarked packaging labeled “East Van Eco Tours,” leading investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Calgary Police Service to target the Dark Web vendor Canada1.
The indictment alleges that Federuik and Nicholls conspired to import drugs from places including China and Hungary.
Then, using business names including “East Van Eco Tours” and “Bridge City Consulting LLP,” the alleged conspirators distributed those drugs through the Dark Web in the Southern District of Georgia and elsewhere in the United States.
The indictment further alleges that a shipment of those drugs packaged by the conspirators traveled from Canada to Kingsland, resulting in the deaths of B.J.T. and T.L.B. in October 2017.
Federuik and Nicholls have been taken into custody and are awaiting extradition proceedings to bring them to the Southern District of Georgia.
Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
“The metrics of the opioid crisis are staggering,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office.
“We will continue to take decisive action to curtail the illegal distribution of opioids and other addictive prescription drugs, bringing to justice criminals who endanger the public’s health.”
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