Judge ponders whether man knew pizza ovens held opium
The question of whether Gabar Choli knew there was opium hidden inside pizza ovens sent to him from Turkey is the key question at his trial.
Lawyers made their final arguments Thursday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, where Choli faces charges of importing and trafficking opium.
When Choli testified in April, he said he had no idea there was opium in the ovens that were addressed to him at his sister’s home on 32nd Street West on Aug. 8, 2012.
He said he assumed his sister had ordered the appliances and he took video and photos of the two parcels to document any damage to them.
If Judge Fred Kovach believes Choli, he must find him not guilty, defence lawyer Ian Wagner argued.
The theory the defence advanced is that Choli was a “blind courier” who was used by a drug trafficking network without his knowledge. Wagner argued Choli wasn’t just acting surprised when the ovens arrived — he actually was surprised.
There’s no evidence of Choli receiving instructions about the parcels or of Choli tracking them, Wagner said.
“If a package comes to me, I very well may take it, if it’s addressed to me, and I very well may bring it into my house, and if I’ve got something else going on, I may not do anything with it,” Wagner argued. “Would I videotape it? I might, if it’s damaged ... because if something’s broken inside, I want someone to blame.”
Crown prosecutor Doug Curliss dismissed that suggestion.
The Crown’s theory is that Choli knew exactly what was in the ovens. Curliss argued the videotaping and photographing of the parcels immediately after delivery is damning because of expert evidence presented at the trial that documenting the parcels is standard procedure for couriers, who have to supply evidence up the chain of the parcels’ delivery.
“He’s doing what the expert said couriers would do,” Curliss said.
The two ovens contained 1.864 kilograms of opium, with a value between $36,000 (wholesale) and $96,000 (retail). Their final destination likely wasn’t Saskatoon, which doesn’t have a large opium market, court heard. They were intercepted by customs officials in Montreal.
Police in Saskatoon then conducted a “controlled delivery,” where a police officer posed as a Canada Post employee and delivered the parcels, getting a signature from Choli.
Twelve minutes later, police burst back into the home and arrested Choli. The parcels were sitting, unopened, in a closet, but police found video and photos of the parcels on Choli’s phone.
Kovach reserved his decision on the case to an unspecified future date.