Cocaine seized by CBSA officers in Carway in March 2018. (Canada Border Services Agency)

By David Opinko

31 bricks of cocaine confiscated

Officers testify in Southern Alberta cocaine smuggling trial

Mar 17, 2021 | 2:30 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A lengthy trial for a man accused of smuggling cocaine across the Canada-U.S. border at Carway continues.

Bradley Michael Gaudrault, 28, of Fort McMurray, was arrested on March 17, 2018, and is charged with one count each of importing cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

It is alleged that he crossed the border at Carway into Canada after a four-day stay in the United States.

Upon a secondary inspection, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reportedly found 31 bricks of cocaine, each weighing approximately one kilogram, hidden in what authorities called a “sophisticated” compartment in the trunk of an SUV.

CBSA officers claim, depending on how the drugs are packaged and sold, they could have a street value of anywhere between $1.4 million and $3.1 million. It was said to have been enough for around 310,000 hits.

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The defense is trying to cast doubt over whether or not Gaudrault was actually the person involved in smuggling the drugs.

On Wednesday, the 12-member jury first heard from CBSA officer Tyson Ulrich.

He was the secondary officer involved in the investigation with his main role being to take notes.

The defense poured through Ulrich’s 29 pages of handwritten notes and four pages of typed notes, attempting to make the case that Ulrich’s notes did not match some of his testimonies.

In court, Ulrich stated that a person who was detained was shaking so much that they had to lean on the counter. In his notes written exactly three years ago, however, he had only written down that the detainee was “nervous”.

The officer also said that, when he was searching the person’s phone, he found that all of the recent calls and text messages had been erased.

The next witness was Cst. Kevin England, who, at the time, was a member of Raymond RCMP.

England took fingerprints of a person in custody on March 17, 2018, and transported the suspect to corrections. The fingerprints were submitted as evidence.

That was the end of his time on the stand in court.

Court then heard from Todd Win Midgete, a member of Calgary RCMP who helped to process the seized items.

A series of 33 photos were reviewed and Midgete explained that each of the 31 bricks of cocaine was a little bit larger than a standard loaf of bread.

He was also involved in preparing samples to be sent to Health Canada for testing.

The defense asked Midgete if there was any possibility that RCMP could have handled evidence without wearing gloves. Midgete said that was unlikely as doing so would be a “really bad idea” for the sake of their own safety and for the integrity of the evidence.

Several other witnesses are expected to be called in the coming days. The trial is expected to continue for the rest of this week and for part of next week.