12 years in prison for trucker arrested with $29 million in methamphetamines at the border

An Ontario man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for importing nearly 200 kilograms of methamphetamines into the country.

Mohamed Ahmed Abdirahman, 40, was convicted in April of drug importation and possession for the purpose of trafficking. When he was arrested in 2019, it was the largest methamphetamine seizure in seven years by the Canada Border Services Agency.

196.7 kilograms of the drug were found in the trailer of Mr. Abdirahman’s truck on December 24, 2019 as he attempted to enter Canada via the Ambassador Bridge.

The trucker was returning from California where he had fulfilled a contract with a company. During this trip, he made a detour to Mexico after having communicated with a contact nicknamed El Chapo.

At trial, authorities testified that the drug was pure and that its value could vary from $4.5 million to $29 million depending on how it was sold.

Mr. Abdirhaman’s lawyer, Jessica Grbevski, said her client was satisfied with the sentence. That’s a lot of time in prison, but that’s basically what we asked for said Ms. Grbevski, who believes in her client’s potential for recovery. Including time served in pretrial detention, Mr. Abdirahman has 11 years left to serve under the sentence imposed.

With information from CBC.