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Ontario men sentenced for importing coke amid crackdown on Sinaloa Cartel

Southern Ontario men arrested in 2014 during a massive raid with more than 200 police

Two Ontario men have been sentenced to long prison terms for importing several thousand kilos of cocaine into Canada at the behest of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s largest and most feared drug trafficking organizations.

Vito Buffone of Caledone and Jeffery Kompon of Welland were sentenced to 20 and 22 years in prison respectively on Thursday after prosecutors had called for life terms for their role bringing nearly 2,500 kilos of cocaine into Ontario in 2013, the Toronto Star reported.

The sentencing comes amid a “large scale drug investigation” targeting cartel members in southern Ontario, Niagara Regional Police spokesman Phil Gavin told VICE News on Friday.

“Multiple people are being investigated,” Gavin said as part of an operation dubbed Project Roadmaster targeting cocaine importation into Canada from Latin America.

The two men were arrested in September 2014, when 200 police officers from seven law enforcement agencies conducted raids in southern Ontario.

Considered one of Mexico’s biggest trafficking organizations with a multibillion dollar global network, the Sinaloa Cartel was led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, infamous for his dramatic prison escapes, before he was extradited to the U.S. where is is now awaiting trial.