A man at the centre of a drug trafficking operation in Red Deer’s north end has been sentenced to four years in custody, four months after his conviction.
Ahmed Nur, 32, of Edmonton was convicted of trafficking cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking on Nov. 24, 2014, in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.
On Tuesday, he was convicted of a third charge — possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000. At the time of his arrest in Edmonton, more than $55,000 in cash was found in the vehicle he was in. However, Justice Charlene Anderson said he could only be convicted for being in possession of $18,100.
Red Deer RCMP followed the vehicle from Red Deer to a storage facility in south Edmonton. They found two suitcases containing large quantities of cash. A black one with pink stripes contained $14,500 and a green one contained $40,000. Nur told police the black one with pink stripes was his. He was arrested along with Raed Abdullah, 32, of Red Deer on July 12, 2011.
Charges against Abdullah were stayed by the Crown in September 2014.
In her decision, Anderson said she could only convict Nur for possessing the money in the suitcase he claimed to own and the $3,600 that was found on him during a search.
Nur said the money was for a new truck and for his sister’s wedding. Anderson said that may be true, but it still doesn’t explain where the money came from.
From 2008 to 2011, Nur paid reported no income to Revene Canada.
Crown prosecutor Patricia Giroux and defence counsel Paul Moreau jointly submitted a recommended sentence of four years for all three charges. Taking into consideration Nur’s pre-trial custody credit of 15 months and three weeks, he still has three years and seven days left to serve on his sentence.
Nur was involved in a drug trafficking operation where he would resupply a residence on Jordan Parkway regularly with controlled substances. The people at the Jordan Parkway residence would then sell the drugs at the street level.
Anderson said Nur was selling cocaine wholesale and the criminal enterprise he was a part of showed a level of sophistication.
In addition to the jail term, Nur was ordered to provide a sample of his DNA and was given a 10-year prohibition from owning unrestricted weapons, plus a lifetime prohibition from owning restricted and prohibited weapons.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com