A sexagenarian who was caught at Montreal-Trudeau airport with nearly five kilograms of heroin in her luggage has pleaded not guilty, suggesting she didn’t know the drug worth nearly $2 million was there.
“That is the question you have to decide,” said Me Sara Moussa of the Federal Crown this Monday in the Montreal courthouse.
Shortly before, 61-year-old Jenny Siaw Ying Wong pleaded not guilty to charges of drug importation and drug possession for the purpose of drug trafficking.
According to the evidence the Crown plans to present, Wong flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, in May 2023, with a brief stopover in Qatar. The sixty-year-old stayed for a week before returning to the country.
However, when Wong arrived at customs he was sent for a second search, the jury was told. And that’s where the drugs were discovered.
“In one of the two suitcases there was a black bag and a shoulder bag. In these items, these almost five kilograms of heroin were found,” Me Moussa explained.
The drug, which had a purity of “48 to 51 percent,” was worth nearly $2 million when resold on the street in 0.05-gram doses, according to jury testimony.
A mule”
Under the federal Crown’s theory, Wong was merely acting as a “courier” or “mule,” meaning his job was only to transport the drugs.
“We are not alleging that she manufactured or packaged the drugs or that she intended to sell them herself,” Moussa said.
However, this still resulted in her being prosecuted in connection with the importation of this drug. During the trial, which is scheduled to last several weeks, the prosecution plans to call five witnesses, including the customs officer who searched the defendant and the dog handler who conducted interviews with Wong. Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers are also expected to testify, as is the owner of a travel agency in British Columbia where Wong once worked.
“The tickets were not purchased from her,” the prosecutor said, suggesting that was an important detail for the jury.
The trial will be presided over by Judge Marc David, while Emmanuelle Rheault and David Petranic will be defending.