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Man fined for minor role in drug production operation

A minor player in a clandestine drug production operation has been granted an absolute discharge and ordered to pay a $1,000 victim surcharge.
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A minor player in a clandestine drug production operation has been granted an absolute discharge and ordered to pay a $1,000 victim surcharge.

A minor player in a clandestine drug production operation has been granted an absolute discharge and ordered to pay a $1,000 victim surcharge.

James Rempel was arrested in June 2016 and charged under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act with unlawfully transporting GBL, a substance used to manufacture GHB, known as the date rape drug.

Rempel was not known to police. He came to the attention of officers investigating clandestine drug labs in Saanich, North Saanich and Shawnigan Lake.

The police were conducting surveillance on two other people at a house on Ravenhill Road in Shawnigan Lake when they saw Rempel putting a large cooking pot, jerry cans filled with GHB, a tool box with two water bottles containing GHB and a two-litre white jug containing GBL into the trunk of his car.

Rempel and two others got into the car and left the area. They were arrested at a traffic stop on the Trans-Canada Highway in Langford. Rempel’s two co-accused are still before the courts facing more than 20 charges.

Federal prosecutor Bal Girn asked the court for a suspended sentence and 12 months of probation.

Defence lawyer Dale Marshall asked for an absolute discharge, reminding provincial court Judge Jennifer Barrett that Rempel was charged with a regulatory offence for which the maximum sentence is a $5,000 fine or three years in prison.

Marshall asked Barrett to increase the victim surcharge to meet the sentencing objectives of general denunciation and deterrence.

“This is not a man who needs to be rehabilitated. This is not a man who needs to be specifically deterred,” Marshall said.

Rempel, 27, is married with two young children. He completed his welding apprenticeship and has been a journeyman welder since 2011. He worked in Fort McMurray from 2011 until he was laid off in 2015. By that time, he was married and had a son and was looking for work anyway he could, Marshall said.

His co-accused, whom he met in high school, offered him a variety of jobs doing construction, labour and acting as a gofer, picking up materials.

“In short, his involvement was minor,” Marshall said.

“He’s back to work, welding in the diamond industry in the Northwest Territories. He’s working full time, supporting his family … and travelling back and forth.”

Rempel is also developing a career as a singer and has signed with a record label.

Barrett noted that Rempel has no criminal history and has the support of family and friends.

A discharge means Rempel will not have a criminal record.

Barrett said the offence was serious, but increasing the victim surcharge will meet the necessary objectives of denunciation and deterrence. Rempel must pay the fine by Aug. 20.

ldickson@timescolonist.com