Canadian Judge Reverses Release of Cartel Sicario Seeking Refugee Status After Trump Terror Designation
La Familia Michoacana Hitman First Entered Canada on Hotel Work Visa, Later Told Vancouver Undercover Officer He Killed for Hire
OTTAWA — As reported exclusively by The Bureau, a senior U.S. government expert has issued a stark warning: Canada’s economy—and its communities—are increasingly exposed to Chinese-led fentanyl trafficking networks that reach the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.
In a follow-up report publishing tomorrow, the expert predicts that Mexican cartels will intensify an already visible shift northward—moving fentanyl superlabs, cross-border smuggling routes, and laundering operations into Canada. With U.S. and Mexican authorities tightening their grip on southern trafficking routes under the Trump administration, the cartels are exploiting Canada’s enforcement blind spots.
“This is a critical point I want to make,” the source told The Bureau in exclusive interviews. “As the U.S. tightens control over the southwest border and ramps up operations against the cartels in Mexico, what do you think happens in Canada? The demand from the U.S. doesn’t disappear. So who becomes the supplier? It won’t be the U.S.—we’ll shut those labs down. But Canada? Canada’s role will grow. That’s my prediction: as the southern border tightens, and fewer drugs get through, drug production in Canada will increase.”
A Federal Court ruling this week in Ottawa may already offer proof of that shift.
A self-admitted Mexican cartel sicario—who illegally re-entered Canada in February—was nearly released into the community, despite a history that includes a prior deportation, a confession to working as a contract killer, and confirmed ties to La Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico’s most violent cartels.
The decision to halt his release not only reinforces the U.S. expert’s warning, it also signals that Canada’s immigration, border, and detention systems are already under severe strain.The man, identified in court as “C.M.,” is a 42-year-old Mexican national linked to cartel cocaine trafficking investigations. He first entered Canada in 2006 on a temporary visa to work at a Best Western hotel.
“On February 13, 2025, [C.M.] entered Canada at an unofficial port of entry with his minor child,” the ruling states. “They made a claim for refugee protection based on fear of the child’s mother and fears that the Trump administration would separate the Respondent from his child. He was questioned and released with conditions.”
On April 1, Justice Julie Blackhawk quashed a controversial Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) ruling that had authorized the 42-year-old hitman’s release. Her ruling overturned the IRB’s March 7 order and mandated a new detention hearing before a different adjudicator.
The decision—first reported by the Vancouver Sun—lays out stark details of the case.
According to a joint investigation by the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP, C.M. was deeply embedded in cartel crime. In 2014, he told an undercover officer he was a hitman for hire affiliated with La Familia Michoacana. He disclosed his fees, killing methods, and body disposal techniques.
Founded in the 1980s as a vigilante group claiming to impose order over violent narcos and kidnappers, La Familia Michoacana took root in Michoacán, near Mexico City, before expanding into neighboring states and establishing trafficking networks across the United States. The cartel’s movements have long mirrored enforcement patterns—shifting territories and tactics in response to pressure. Its offshoot, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, is under investigation for trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the U.S., adapting its operations to exploit the synthetic drug trade.
In blunt terms, Justice Blackhawk found the decision to release the admitted sicario—issued by IRB Member Maleeka Mohamed—was “unreasonable, unintelligible, and not justified.”
The Public Safety Minister quickly filed an urgent application for judicial review to block his release, arguing that the IRB’s ruling failed in three critical respects:
It downplayed the danger posed by the Respondent, a self-admitted drug trafficker and known associate of a terrorist organization, simply because criminal charges had never been laid;
It ignored key evidence from a 2014 VPD–RCMP investigation, in which the Respondent voluntarily identified himself as a hitman for hire, detailing his fees and methods;
It overstated the adequacy of the proposed release conditions, including “around-the-clock” supervision, despite evidence those measures were not in place.
Justice Blackhawk agreed. By the tenth paragraph of her 98-paragraph decision, she had already outlined a chain of events that amounts to a scathing indictment of Canada’s border security and immigration enforcement.
In 2011, C.M. was found by Vancouver Police in possession of a significant quantity of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. He was arrested—but never charged.
In 2014, during the joint police operation into organized crime and drug trafficking, C.M. attended a meeting where a controlled substance was purchased. An undercover officer recorded him describing his role as a contract killer, including his methods and disposal techniques.
On November 4, 2014, C.M. was arrested and detained by the Canada Border Services Agency. Two days later, an exclusion order was issued. He was released on conditions and deported in 2015.
Despite this troubling history, no criminal charges were ever pursued.
In his 2025 refugee intake interview, C.M. stated he would be staying with David Jordan-Garcia, also known as “Spanish Dave”—a man previously identified by Canadian authorities as a La Familia associate in the 2014 investigation.
Despite this clear red flag, IRB Member Mohamed approved C.M.’s release, citing conditions that included supervision by two bondspersons and the installation of home video surveillance. The ruling went into some detail about how “trusted family members”—who were not legally bound as sureties—could help fill supervision gaps left by the two bondspersons, Jorge Estaban Colin and his father, Jesus Colin, both of whom worked long hours and had limited capacity to monitor C.M. around the clock. Yet, as Justice Blackhawk pointed out, the video surveillance system was not operational at the time the release was approved.
“There is simply no information to indicate why the Member was of the view that the video surveillance did not need to be in place prior to the Respondent’s release,” Blackhawk wrote. “This is unreasonable, unintelligible, and not justified.”
She also found that Mohamed relied too heavily on the absence of recent charges, failing to account for the fact that C.M. had spent nearly a decade outside of Canada. Mohamed described the threat posed by C.M. as “lower-end,” a finding Blackhawk called “impossible to reconcile” with the record.
“When questioned by the CBSA on February 13, 2025, the Respondent stated that he would be residing with David Jordan-Garcia, a.k.a. Spanish Dave, a person known to the VPD and RCMP from the 2014 investigation,” Blackhawk wrote. “[Mohamed] states ‘it does appear that [C.M.] has reassociated with a couple of individuals who were alleged back in 2014 of being associated with this organization.’ Therefore, it is unclear how [Mohamed] concluded that there is minimal information concerning his current ties to La Familia.”
IRB Member Maleeka Mohamed is either stupid or compromised. I think IRB better look into who else Mohamed is letting into Canada.
Thank god for based justice blackhawk. First indigenous woman appointed to the federal bench. I am encouraged whenever i hear of sensible rulings like this. May she continue to be granted wisdom, courage and protection.