Issue regarding appropriate sentence for importation of 961 grams of cocaine into Canada from Peru. Case fell within the wholesale trafficking category.
Held: 6 year jail sentence.
“There is no starting point sentence for importation of cocaine in Alberta. However, the offence of importing is more serious than the offence of trafficking: R. v. Cirone 1988 ABCA 228. This suggests that individuals convicted of importation of hard drugs should attract a higher sentence than for the offence of trafficking. As noted in Overacker, 2005 ABCA 150 at para 20, cocaine is not indigenous to Canada and its importation is “at the root of the social devastation it causes.”
K. Fagan – Defence Counsel