Toronto man to plead guilty in U.S. cocaine smuggling case
Toronto cocaine shipment case: plea deal in alleged transnational drug plot Accused courier may face U.S. sentencing after waiving extradition and pleading guilty
A Toronto man has agreed to plead guilty in a U.S. case involving a large cocaine shipment linked by prosecutors to a drug network associated with former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.
Court documents say Rakhim Ibragimov, originally from Uzbekistan, was arrested in California in April 2024 after travelling from Canada to oversee the shipment. Authorities said he was trying to pick up about 375 kilograms of cocaine that was meant to be transported to Canada.
Ibragimov later returned to Ontario, where he was arrested again by Toronto police in October 2024. His plea agreement says he will plead guilty to intent to distribute cocaine and notes that he waived an extradition hearing. He is expected to formally enter the plea on July 8, with sentencing to be scheduled later.