Appeal dismissed for man convicted of possessing $62K of drug-related cash in N.W.T.
Ali Omar was convicted in May 2022 despite the court acknowledging his rights were breached
A man convicted two years ago of possessing $62,960 in what’s thought to be drug money has had his appeal denied by the N.W.T. Court of Appeal.
Ali Omar was sentenced to 25 months and 14 days in May 2022 after RCMP found the cash and evidence of drug dealing in his hotel room in Inuvik.
In his appeal, Omar argued the evidence wasn’t admissible in court because RCMP had stopped his vehicle days before the search while following up on a tip from a confidential informant. They then conducted surveillance before obtaining a search warrant for his room.
During the trial, Justice Louise Charbonneau had ruled Omar’s Charter rights had indeed been breached, but determined the cash was connected to cocaine trafficking in Inuvik. Charbonneau ruled that admitting the evidence “would enhance, not detract from, the truth-seeking function of the process,” and that while the police stop was illegal, it wasn’t done in bad faith.
Omar argued in his appeal Charbonneau had erred in her analysis of how serious the Charter breach was.
After a hearing before the Court of Appeal on June 11, appeal judges Frans Slatter, Anne Kirker and Sheila MacPherson found Charbonneau was careful in her reasoning and in how she weighed the importance of the Charter breach.
They dismissed Omar’s appeal.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Police make raids across Montreal as part of investigation into alcohol, drug network selling into Arctic Quebec, Eye on the Arctic
United States: Alaskan authorities intercept Canadians allegedly smuggling drugs, firearms into U.S., CBC News
