Criminal Past Meets Celebrity Life

0:00It's March 25. You're listening to Toronto News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Corey with the story. Ham the Letage, a 62-year-old man from Kosovo with Albanian roots, has a serious criminal pass in the United States. He's a convicted bank burglar who faced deportation after serving two years in federal prison for a Brooklyn bank heist in 2001. Police there also linked him to drug trafficking suspicions involving Mexico's El Chapo Guzman and money laundering. Now he lives large in Toronto, owning companies tied to a luxury downtown condo and posting pictures with high-end cars. Earlier this week, attention turned to his cameo in Canadian rapper Drake's music video for polar opposites, released in 2023. The clip has 9.7 million views on YouTube, showing Letage laughing with Drake and others in red jackets featuring the Albanian eagle, Ahmed, a gambling scene. Both men share a passion for Toronto Raptors games where Letage has been spotted courtsides

1:03since at least 2019, though no photos show them, together outside the video. Now the Drake, Norletage responded to requests for comment on their connection or his background. A music industry commentator noted that featuring someone with alleged gangster ties could boost Drake's street cred, especially during his feud with. Kendrick Lamar around that time. Fans of both basketball and hip-hop have crossed paths at Raptors events, but Letage remains low profile in Canada, despite his flashy lifestyle. Canadian police files from 2013 to 2019, flag Letage for suspected cocaine trafficking, tied to El Chapo Networks, and surveillance in a probe called Project Hobart targeting illegal gambling and money laundering with possible and drunk head of mafia links and hell's angels. He was never charged or convicted here, and records don't explain how he entered the country after U.S. deportation orders. This story raises questions about high-profile mingling with figures from the criminal underworld,

2:03all while Letage enjoys Toronto's elite circles, without facing local justice.