B.C. man who came to P.E.I. to sell fentanyl sentenced to more than 4 years in prison

CBC

6 days ago

A young man who travelled to Prince Edward Island from British Columbia to sell fentanyl and other drugs to Islanders has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison — with the Supreme Court justice rebuking him for acting solely out of greed at the expense of others.
Charlottetown police arrested Raiyaaz Rahim Aziz in September. He turned 18 three months before his arrest and is now 19 years old.
The court heard that Aziz flew to P.E.I. from his home province. By his account, he thought he was coming to the Island to sell cannabis.
Once he arrived, he drove around in a rented Audi SUV, and police were watching him as he made stops at a grocery store parking lot and residences in Sherwood.
One of those homes was an Airbnb where Aziz was staying. Police got a warrant to search it, and seized 310 grams of fentanyl, 180 grams of crystal meth and 90 grams of cocaine.
Neither the vehicle nor the accommodation rental were in Aziz's name.
After Aziz was arrested, he told police he had been staying at the Airbnb with "other guys" who he would not name, but it was a "new group" he was working with.
He said he was told not to leave the home in Sherwood unless he was meeting people to make sales, details of which were passed on to him by his contact in British Columbia.
'He knew the difference'
Aziz told police he thought about backing out of the drug deals after he arrived, but felt he had no choice because the people he was with were "dangerous."
But P.E.I. Supreme Court Justice Nancy Key took issue with some of those details.
"He knew the difference between weed and hardcore drugs, yet he did what he was instructed," she said on Thursday while handing down her decision on Aziz's sentence.
"He has no addiction issues and was motivated solely by profit."
The court heard that Aziz struggled to attend high school regularly and eventually had to go to an alternative school in Vancouver, which he still hadn't completed at the time of his arrest.
Fentanyl has altered the landscape of the substance abuse crisis in Canada, revealing itself as public enemy number one. — Justice Nancy Key
He lived with his father, stepmother and ailing grandparents, who he helped care for.
Aziz used cannabis every day, but otherwise was not a drug user, nor were his friends and family.
His pre-sentence report painted a picture of a normal teenager: one who enjoys video games, eating out, playing basketball and spending time with friends and family.
Aziz had spent some time in custody on P.E.I. after his arrest and described it as a "terrifying experience" where he witnessed violence and people withdrawing from drugs.
He was later released with electronic monitoring after his family put up bail.
Aziz returned to B.C. to live with family while he awaited his sentence and finished his high school courses.
He pleaded guilty in March to having the fentanyl with the intention of selling it. The Crown later stayed charges in connection with the meth and cocaine possession.
Fentanyl driving 'untold grief and suffering'
An expert who previously testified characterized the amount of fentanyl and crystal meth that Aziz had — and the logistics of the operation he was a part of — as that of a mid-level trafficker, while the cocaine amount was that of a low-end, street dealer.
Police estimate the total street value of the drugs was about $184,000.
Key said those numbers may be impressive for news headlines, but what she finds much more significant is the "insidious, lethal" impact substances like fentanyl have on the community and how it drives addiction and the desperation of those living with it.
"Fentanyl has altered the landscape of the substance abuse crisis in Canada, revealing itself as public enemy number one," she said Thursday.
Key said selling the highly addictive synthetic opioid "preys disproportionately on the misery of others" and "is a crime motivated by greed and with untold grief and suffering."
The justice spoke for more than an hour and a half in sentencing Aziz. She said that while he was a youthful, first-time offender who took responsibility and expressed remorse, there were parts of his story she found inconsistent.
"This was a new group he was working for, what other groups had he worked for?" she asked.
"The huge quantity of drugs was a commercial enterprise."
She also noted that police saw Aziz drive someone to the airport, but otherwise investigators mostly observed him alone in the Audi or in the Airbnb.
He said he would not name the people he was with because he was afraid, but also that he didn't know them.
"He was trusted by someone to fly from B.C. to P.E.I., to drive an Audi SUV and stay in an Airbnb," Key said.
Sentencing considerations
The defence asked that Aziz be able to serve his sentence under a conditional order, similar to a house arrest arrangement. The Crown opposed this and asked that he go to prison for a period of nine to 10 years.
If the conditional sentence wasn't an option, the defence asked that he receive a "short, sharp" bout of time in custody.
Key cited all of the cases she considered when making her decision, including the recent sentencing of Tye Poirier, who had 19 grams of fentanyl more than Aziz and was sentenced to seven and a half years, as well as other cases from P.E.I. and across Canada.
She said she also took Aziz's remorse, his early guilty plea, and his prospects of rehabilitation into consideration.
She ultimately landed on 54 months in custody, with about three months credit for the time he already spent in jail. A sentence of that length cannot be served on P.E.I., so Aziz will go off-Island to a federal penitentiary.
Once he's released, he'll be banned from owning weapons and will have to provide a sample of his DNA to a national database.