Andrew Wiese

Following a 14-day jury trial, the offender, Lincoln Lee Dawkins, was convicted of importing cocaine into Canada and conspiracy to import cocaine.

The court considered aggravating factors such as the large quantity of cocaine (17.34 kg), the nature of the drug, and its concealment in a secure airport washroom.

Mitigating factors included being a first-time offender, strong rehabilitation prospects, exemplary conduct on bail for 5.5 years, and significant collateral immigration consequences (likely deportation).

The court rejected the Crown's submission that the offender was a principal, finding him to be a courier, and distinguished his case from others involving airport employees with breach of trust.

Applying principles of denunciation, deterrence, proportionality, restraint, and parity with a co-accused, the court imposed a sentence of nine years and six months' imprisonment.

The accused applied to exclude intercepted communications between them from use in a search warrant information, wiretap authorization affidavit, and at trial, arguing the communications were protected by marital privilege under s.4(3) of the Canada Evidence Act.

The court held that marital communications privilege is testimonial in nature and does not prevent the interception of communications or their use in investigative affidavits, though they generally cannot be compelled in court testimony without the recipient spouse’s consent.

The accused further argued that limiting the privilege to legally married spouses violated s.15 of the Charter by excluding common-law partners.

The court found the accused had not established that their relationship was analogous to marriage and therefore they could not benefit from the privilege in any event.

The application to excise the communications was dismissed and the intercepted communications were held admissible.

The offenders were sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to import large quantities of cocaine using a Medivac plane, as well as related trafficking and proceeds of crime offences.

The court weighed the gravity of the offences, the offenders' respective roles, and the principles of totality and parity.

After applying a 1.5 to 1 credit for two years of pre-trial custody due to harsh conditions, the court sentenced the first offender to an effective term of 6 years and the second offender to an effective term of 2 years less a day.

Two accused were tried on numerous drug‑related offences including conspiracies to import cocaine, conspiracy to launder proceeds of crime, trafficking, and participation in a criminal organization.

The Crown relied heavily on intercepted communications detailing several alleged conspiracies, including the “Flowers”, “Medivac”, and “Wooden Shoes” schemes.

The court held that mere discussions of criminal plans do not establish conspiracy without proof of an agreement to commit the unlawful act.

One conspiracy to import cocaine through a medical evacuation aircraft was proven against both accused, while other alleged import conspiracies were not established.

The court also convicted one accused of conspiracy to launder proceeds of crime and several trafficking and possession‑for‑the‑purpose offences, while dismissing the criminal organization charge for lack of evidence of structured organization.