Canadian man extradited, accused of sending 300K synthetic opioid pills to Tampa: DOJ

TAMPA, Fla. — The Department of Justice (DOJ) said a man was extradited to the United States and charged with importing opioids to Tampa and money laundering.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said 49-year-old Sebastien Rollin of Quebec, Canada, was charged by federal indictment with conspiracy to import protonitazene, distribution of protonitazene for importation into the United States and international promotional money laundering.

The United States is also seeking an order of forfeiture, per the indictment.

According to the indictment, Rollin, who lived in a suburb of Montreal, began arranging the sale of synthetic opioid pills disguised as oxycodone, knowing that the pills would go to Tampa.

The DOJ said Rollin sold more than 10,000 of those pills to an undercover officer on May 13, 2024, and later sold 25,000 more pills to another undercover officer on July 9, 2024.

Rollin accepted payment for these sales via cryptocurrency sent from an undercover cryptocurrency wallet in the Middle District of Florida to Canada, per the indictment.

In mid-July 2024, the indictment said Rollin negotiated the sale of 300,000 synthetic opioid pills to the United States, but Canadian police stopped the vehicle of an organization courier and seized the pills.

That same day, the report said Canadian police executed search warrants at two clandestine laboratories in Quebec, used for the manufacturing of synthetic opioids, and seized millions of synthetic opioid pills, recipes for synthetic drugs and a firearm.

The announcement said the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the government of Spain to arrest and extradite Rollin from Spain on Feb. 20.

If convicted on all counts, Rollin faces a maximum penalty of 120 years in federal prison, per the DOJ.