Alexandre Beaudry, the drug trafficker accused of helping to exacerbate the opioid crisis in the United States, risks being judged on the other side of the border. Although the Quebecer’s lawyers argued that his autism made incarceration in the United States too dangerous, the Superior Court ultimately allowed him to be extradited.
The Montrealer faces up to 40 years in prison for trafficking a colossal quantity of Xanax into the United States. Alexandre Beaudry is said to have built a veritable empire selling narcotics on the deep web from Montreal (darkweb) in 2016 and 2017, operating under numerous pseudonyms. In just a year and a half, the 32-year-old is said to have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoins.
The man nicknamed the “King of Xanax” had been trying for two years to have the extradition request rejected, citing in particular his autism as a reason. Incarceration in the United States would present too many risks for Alexandre Beaudry, given his neurological condition, according to his lawyers Me Alexandre Bergevin and Me Kaven Morasse.
Judge Mario Longpré, however, ruled in the other direction, recalling that Canada can request certain guarantees from the United States.
According to the judgment, the Minister of Justice “may contact a foreign state in order to determine what precise assurances he is able to obtain before deciding whether or not to extradite a person.”
An empire fallen
The alleged drug trafficker and his accomplices are said to have sold in the United States more than 15 million counterfeit Xanax tablets and other narcotics imported from China or manufactured in Canada, American authorities maintain. Alexandre Beaudry would have prided himself on being the “king of Xanax on the deep web” [Darknet Xanax Kingpin] on the famous Reddit forum, in February 2017.
U.S. authorities allege that under Alexandre Beaudry’s “reign” as head of a drug distribution empire, the United States suffered an epidemic of opioid overdoses. The Quebecer was trafficking extremely dangerous opioids, such as fentanyl and other substances that have led to countless overdoses in the United States, American authorities maintain.
Although the extradition request was accepted by the judge, the fate of Alexandre Beaudry has not yet been sealed. The Minister of Justice, the final authority in matters of extradition, could reject the request. The accused may also decide to appeal the judgment of the Superior Court.
With the collaboration of Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press