Published Jun 27, 2024 • 3 minute read
Transport trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge before passing through Canadian customs, on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Photo by Dax Melmer /Windsor Star
A Brampton trucker who attempted to smuggle almost 200 kilograms of methamphetamine into Canada — one of the largest such seizures ever at the Windsor border — was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in penitentiary.
Trying to import such a large quantity of the highly addictive drug required a strong message of denunciation and deterrence, Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas said in his sentencing decision.
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A Canadian citizen born in Somalia, Mohamed Ahmed Abdirahman, now 40, had no prior criminal record and was 38 years old at the time of his arrest at the Ambassador Bridge on Dec. 24, 2019.
“Not all trucks can undergo significant inspection,” said Thomas. “North American trade is vital to the economy of our countrie.
“A message must be sent to truck drivers who might consider a quick gain by criminal importation.”
Following a trial, Abdirahman was convicted in April of importation and possession of meth for the purpose of trafficking. The judge noted Abdirahman’s strong ties to family and his ethnic community, his continual employment since obtaining his truck driving licence in 2015, and his role as the sole financial provider for his wife and their children, ages 12 and 15.
Abdirahman was arrested on only his third trip after being hired by Brampton-based commercial carrier Hilton Transportation.
The illicit shipment of 200 packages of pure methamphetamine, stored in boxes and totes inside the cab of the tractor-trailer, was discovered by border service officers at the Ambassador Bridge on Dec. 24, 2019.
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Depending on the method of sale, authorities gave an estimated value of the illicit drugs from as high as $29.4 million, based on sales by the gram, to as low as $4.5 million, based on sales by the kilogram.
“I take it as a given that Mr. Abdirahman was taking this incredible risk for the promise of some significant financial reward,” said Thomas. “It makes no sense otherwise.”
Thomas gave Abdirahman 180 days credit for 84 days in actual time spent in pre-sentence custody. Abdirahman, who sat in on Wednesday’s proceedings, was told he had a balance of 11 years and 59 days left to serve. He had already spent 51 months under bail conditions, requiring him to report weekly to the Peel Regional Police.
Federal drug prosecutor Richard Pollock is shown outside the Ontario Superior Court of Justice building in downtown Windsor on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, after Justice Bruce Thomas delivered a 12-year sentence to a truck driver caught attempting to smuggle almost 200 kilograms of methamphetamine into Canada. Photo by Madeline Mazak /Windsor Star
The Crown had requested a sentence of 16 to 18 years. Although on the higher end for first-time offenders, federal drug prosecutor Richard Pollock argued it was justified by the high value and dangerous nature of the substance.
Arguing that longer sentences are reserved for those with more significant roles than a mere courier, defence attorney Jessica Grbevski asked for 10 to 12 years.
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“There’s no question that a 12-year sentence is a deterrent to other drivers, other people that think that they might get involved in this activity,” Pollock later told reporters outside the courthouse.
“It does send the appropriate message.”
Abdirahman told border service officers at the Ambassador Bridge that he was returning from California after spending nine days in the U.S.
Investigation revealed he had actually been out of the country for 14 days, and during that time left his truck near the Mexican border, crossed on foot, and used Uber transportation. RCMP discovered more than 80 communications with a contact known as ‘El Chapo’ in the three weeks prior to his border crossing, including 14 calls made the day before, on his seized cellphone.
The Crown had urged the judge to consider Abdirahman’s “suspicious” calls and detour to Mexico as indicators that his level of “involvement, planning, and execution” extended beyond that of a courier.
However, Thomas said that he found no evidence to support that conclusion.
“The assumption is that truckers are used by drug traffickers to import the drug into the country, so he was sentenced as a courier, as other truckers have been sentenced in the past,” Pollock told reporters after the sentencing.
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