Woman who imported 7 kg of heroin jailed
Love for her younger brother ‘seriously clouded’ B.C. resident’s judgment, says judge
A B.C. woman who, according to a judge, allowed her love for her younger brother to “seriously cloud” her judgment and imported nearly seven kilograms of heroin has been sentenced to four years in prison.
In May 2019, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found Azra Demirovic, 31, guilty of possessing heroin for the purpose of trafficking and unlawfully importing heroin into Canada following her arrest in May 2016 at the Vancouver airport.
Demirovic travelled to Thailand in May 2016 for the purpose of exploring the possibility of weight-loss surgery but before leaving on her trip, she spoke to her brother, Jasmin Demirovic, about the suitcases she was taking with her.
The trial heard that the suitcases were old and in poor shape with the brother advising his sister to use the baggage but to obtain new and less expensive suitcases in Bangkok.
The accused, who had no prior criminal record and who has done volunteer work in the community, knew that her brother, who was not charged in the heroin importation scheme, had one prior conviction and was facing an outstanding drug charge.
When she got to Thailand, she spoke to her brother again about the suitcases. He arranged for her to meet a man outside her hotel and pick up two brand new suitcases. But when she returned to Vancouver with the new suitcases, an inspection at the airport led to the discovery of a 6.93 kilograms of heroin secreted in fibreglass slabs which were sewn into the lining of the suitcases.
At the wholesale level, the drugs were worth $476,000. At the street level, they were worth twice that amount.
The accused and her brother testified at trial that she was the unknowing pawn of her brother in his scheme to import the drugs into Canada but the jury rejected their testimony.
“I find that the accused was wilfully blind to the fact that the suitcases contained a large quantity of heroin,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen said as he imposed sentence Monday.
“She permitted her judgment to be seriously clouded by her love for her brother.
Ms. Demirovic suspected her brother was probably arranging to import drugs in the suitcases but she deliberately refrained from making further inquiries with him as she did not want to have her suspicions confirmed.”
The judge added that there was no evidence that the accused received any financial compensation or other personal benefit for bringing the drugs into Canada.
The Crown called for a sentence of nine years in prison while the defence argued there were “exceptional circumstances” and asked for a suspended sentence and three years probation.
In imposing sentence, the judge said he had issues with the Crown position but also could not accept that a suspended sentence would provide adequate denunciation and deterrence.