Cocaine seized by the Canada Border Services Agency on December 2, 2017. (Supplied by CBSA)

By Connor Gunn

Constitutional challenge to be launched for Alberta drug smuggling case

Jan 6, 2022 | 1:27 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A constitutional challenge will come before the courts in a significant drug smuggling case.

Back in April 2021, Gurminder Toor was found guilty by a jury of importing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

His wife, Kirandeep Kaur Toor, was also convicted of importing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking but was also declared guilty of the lesser charge of simple possession.

Appearing via Webex in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench for what was scheduled to be a sentencing hearing Thursday morning, Acting Defence lawyer, Patrick Fagan, will be presenting a constitutional challenge to the court on February 4, 2022.

In section 742 of the Criminal Code, it states that any person who has been convicted of an offence that is punishable by a maximum sentence of 14 years or life is not eligible for a conditional sentence order (CSO).

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Fagan wants to argue for a conditional sentence for his client, but the Criminal Code doesn’t allow for that sentence in this case.

Kirandeep Toor is pregnant at the moment and Fagan says that section of the criminal code goes against his client’s constitutional rights.

He is going to raise a constitutional challenge and see if the judge will strike that part of the criminal code and allow Kirandeep Toor to be considered for a CSO.

A CSO is a sentence of incarceration which has to be served in the community under strict conditions, normally consisting of house arrest, for up to two years less a day.

The challenge will be addressed on February 4, with the decision coming from the judge on April 13 as well as the sentence for both Kirandeep and Gurminder Toor.

Previous information: Couple found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Canada at Coutts

The couple attempted to cross at the Coutts border into Canada on December 2, 2017.

Officers with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) found 84 bricks of cocaine inside weighing about 99.5 kilograms including packaging.

Depending on how the drugs are packaged and sold, the crown says it could have had a street value between $3.7 million and $5 million.

At the time of the offence, it was the largest-ever seizure of cocaine at Coutts.

Throughout the six-day trial, the essential element was whether or not the married couple was aware that the drugs were in their commercial vehicle.

The defence had tried to argue that the drugs could have been placed in the vehicle unbeknownst to the pair when they stopped at a gas station in Great Falls, Montana.

The crown, however, believed that this would not make any sense as drug dealers would be unlikely to put millions of dollars worth of product in a vehicle if the occupants were not willing participants.

In the defence’s scenario, the crown stated that the theoretical dealers would not know who the Toors are, where they were going, how long they would have been in the gas station, or if they would ever be able to reconnect with the vehicle and recover the drugs on the other side of the border.

READ MORE: Largest seizure of suspected cocaine in Alberta made at Coutts

READ MORE: Couple co-accused in Coutts cocaine case cross-examined in court

READ MORE: Closing arguments heard in 99 kg Coutts cocaine smuggling case

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