Drug charges stayed for Mennonite Taber man

Accused in cocaine trafficking case

Drug charges against a Mennonite man from Taber accused of being part of a trafficking network with ties to organized crime in Mexico have been stayed because of unreasonable delay.

Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Hall agreed with defence counsel Andrea Urquhart that the prosecution of her client, Abram Klassen should be ended.

Klassen was arrested in June, 2012, after police intercepted a shipment of six kilograms of cocaine at the Coutts border crossing.

While some of the delay was attributable to the defence, Hall ruled that 46 1/2 months of that period was not the responsibility of the accused.

The judge found that although most of the delay was caused by Klassen’s co-accused, Jacob Dyck, he agreed with Urquhart her client was still a victim of unreasonable delay.

Last July, the Supreme Court set strict guidelines for how soon trials must be completed for accused persons rights to speedy trials to be upheld.

Any delay of more than 30 months for a hearing in a superior court, like Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta, would be deemed unreasonable unless the Crown could establish otherwise.

Klassen was set to face a threeweek trial in Calgary beginning March 20, on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine, possession for the purpose of trafficking and importation.

Dyck will now stand trial alone on those charges.

The pair were arrested in Taber on June 26, 2012, after police seized six kilograms worth an estimated $2-million on March 22.

“They were the organizers of a person that transported it,” said lead RCMP investigator Staff Sgt. Gord Sage at the time, of the pair and a third man who escaped arrest.