Expert Evidence in Drug Trafficking

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This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2018. (Rev. # 92514)

General Principles

See also: Drug Trafficking

In considering whether to qualify an officer as an expert in drug related fields of expertise, the question is not whether the witness knows more than the average officer but rather whether there is expertise to explain the vagaries of drug trafficking milieu.[1]

It is not relevant evidence to have an expert qualified in the customs of the drug trade to comment on his familiarity of the use of blind couriers on the issue of establishing the mens rea of trafficking. [2]

An expert is entitled to develop that expertise "by observations of the drug trade, by talking to other experts, and by general involvement in policing of the drug trade."[3]

  1. ↑ R v NO, 2009 ABCA 75 (CanLII), 2 Alta LR (5th) 72, per curiam
  2. ↑ R v Sekhon, 2014 SCC 15 (CanLII), [2014] 1 SCR 272, per Moldaver J
  3. ↑ R v Plourde, 2017 ABCA 367 (CanLII), per Slatter JA, at para 6 - ("An expert on drug activity is entitled to develop that expertise by observations of the drug trade, by talking to other experts, and by general involvement in policing of the drug trade.")

Example Areas of qualification

Courts have previously accepted the following area of expertise relating to drugs:

  • relationship between couriers, overseers and contact persons in drug importation[1]
  • how drug traffickers work [2]
  • drug trafficking transactions [3]
  • intention to traffick [4]
  • pricing and jargon [5]
  • monetary value of hash and heroin [6]
  • impairment by drug recognition expert evidence[7]
  • the how marijuana is grown, the stages of growth, activities surrounding a grow operation, the effect of moisture on the plants during harvest.[8]
  • significance of short notice bookings and cash payments as indicators of drug importation schemes.[9]
  • "the production, manner of use, packaging, distribution, prices, consumption patterns, paraphernalia, jargon, practices and habits of users, practices and habits of traffickers, and the observable effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy." [10]
  • "drug trafficking, drug hierarchies, the meaning of coded language, and police anti-detection techniques"[11]
  1. ↑ R v Hui 1988, OJ No 1881 (ONCA)(*no CanLII links)
  2. ↑ R v Joyal, 1990 CanLII 3344 (QC CA), 55 CCC (3d) 233, per curiam
  3. ↑ R v Ballony-Reeder, 2001 BCCA 293 (CanLII), 153 CCC (3d) 511, per Hall JA
  4. ↑ R v Bryan, 2003 CanLII 24337 (ON CA), 175 CCC (3d) 285, per Goudge JA
  5. ↑ R v Fougere, 1988 CanLII 7117 (NB CA), 40 CCC (3d) 355, per curiam
    R v Somerville, 2012 NBCA 23 (CanLII), 100 WCB (2d) 788, per Richard JA
  6. ↑ R v Mohammadi, 2006 QCCA 930 (CanLII), 71 WCB (2d) 800, per Hilton JA
  7. ↑ cf. R v Thomas, 2012 BCPC 215 (CanLII), per Birnie J
    R v Cripps, 2014 ONCJ 189 (CanLII), per Knazan J
  8. ↑ Somerville, supra
  9. ↑ R v Lewis, 2012 ONCA 388 (CanLII), 284 CCC (3d) 423, per Blair JA
  10. ↑ R v Qureshi, 2011 ABPC 92 (CanLII), 508 AR 128, per Malin J, at para 22
    R v NO, 2009 ABCA 75 (CanLII), [2009] AJ No 213, per curiam
  11. ↑ R v Dritsas, 2012 MBQB 339 (CanLII), 286 Man R (2d) 191, per McKelvey J

See Also

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