Sinaloa Cartel Cocaine Manager in Canada Released on Parole After Serving 4 of His 13 ½ Year Sentence

"Anonymous" for Borderland Beat

The police investigation against the Sinaloa Cartel was started by the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS, crest pictured above). The operation, called Project Roadmaster, investigated cocaine smuggling to the Greater Toronto Area from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.

A Mississauga-based senior manager for the Sinaloa Cartel has been granted full parole after serving less than four years of a 13 ½ year prison sentence.

Borja Vilalta Castellanos, 36, was convicted in 2017 of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, trafficking in a scheduled substance and laundering the proceeds of crime for the Sinaloa cartel. He was among 14 arrested in early morning raids in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Niagara Region on Sept. 22, 2014, by some 200 police officers from seven law enforcement agencies.

The police operation, called Project Roadmaster, targeted cocaine importation into the Greater Toronto Area from Mexico, Central America and South America. Court heard that a massive amount of cocaine was smuggled by truck from the U.S. to the Niagara Region and by ship through the Port of Montreal.

It was hidden in shipments of drug-filled granite boulders that were used for kitchen countertops. Court heard the sophisticated operation brought 2,431 kilos of cocaine into Ontario in 2013 alone, at a time when local prices were up to nearly $40,000 a kilo.

“Real harms, not just abstract ones, have befallen the community,” Crown prosecutor Lisa Matthews said.

The newly-released parole board decision notes that Vilalta-Castellanos was denied bail during his court case and had a supervisory role with the Sinaloa cartel’s Canadian operations.

“While in pre-trial custody, you were involved in incidents of threatening and assaulting others,” the parole board decision states. “You admitted slapping another offender and trying to stop an altercation.

“The judge noted that your role was supervisory, but you were not the leader, and that while you did not plead guilty, you did not contest the facts,” the decision continues.

“You described that your business had gone bankrupt, and you became involved in the drug importation through a man you already knew who had introduced you to tax evasion in Mexico,” the parole decision states.

“You also recruited a childhood friend to participate. You began with small shipments as you wanted money, and as the quantity increased, you felt trapped and unable to distance yourself or walk away completely.”

The parole board decision notes that his role with the cartel in Canada was to extract cocaine from a compartment hidden inside large boulders that were shipped by truck into the Niagara Region.

“The drugs were then forwarded to the prearranged source and you then arranged for couriers to transport payment,” the parole decisions states. “You denied any violence or weapons. Police and court documents support this claim.”

The parole board decision notes he has no other criminal record in Canada, and authorities here have no information to suggest he has a criminal record in Mexico or Spain.

Vilalta-Castellanos was born in Spain and told authorities he had a privileged childhood as a member of a wealthy family.

“You completed school (in Spain), had several businesses, travelled between Spain, Canada and Mexico, and led a partying lifestyle,” the parole board decision states. “After the failure of your concert business, you began your criminal activity to keep up your lifestyle and appearance of success.” The parole board decision states he married a woman he met in Canada, and lied to her about his income.

The decision notes he was in Canada on a visitor visa and was not permitted to work. The Canada Border Services Agency has ordered his deportation. The parole board notes that he is a minimum-security inmate and upgraded himself academically while in custody.

“You had private family visits with your wife regularly, and visits with other family members who came from overseas,” the parole board decision continues, noting he is the father of a newborn child. The parole board decision says his release plan is to be deported to Spain and live with his mother there.

“Your wife intends to follow you there,” the board states. “You describe that family members will support you while you seek employment and save for entrepreneurial pursuits and your own home. You provided support letters from numerous family members and friends to the Board, including from your wife, mother, and potential employer(s).”

Source: The Star