A Langley man has been acquitted of drug-trafficking charges after an investigation that included eight months of surveillance, 14 police witnesses and a receipt for bread from the Nanaimo Fairway Market.
Gerry Grieve was indicted in November 2019 on three drug-related charges, including importing, possessing and trafficking cocaine
Police had begun observing Grieve in February of that year after he was seen in Tsawwassen meeting with Gerhard Laufer, who was under investigation after police observed him in Qualicum Beach meeting with another individual suspected of trafficking cocaine in Nanaimo.
Grieve worked as a commercial trucker and owned a white 2009 Peterbilt tractor — a semi-truck — that became a centrepiece of the Crown’s case.
According to court documents, Grieve used the Peterbilt for 19 round trips across the border from Canada to the U.S. during the first 10 months of 2019. He was the only driver who requested deliveries along specific routes on specific days and he was the only trucker at the company who opted to pay for storage for his truck, rather than park it for free at the company lot, the documents say.
According to the company he was working for, he earned $1,074.73 for 10 months of work.
Police observed Grieve meeting with Laufer on eight dates in 2019, with Grieve travelling to and from Duke Point, Tsawwassen and Surrey, carrying items such as a black tote, shoulder bag, and a “small black item.”
Grieve was seen putting plastic bags in the back of his personal truck, but when police searched the truck later they found a receipt inside for bread, purchased from the Fairway Market in Nanaimo.
Grieve and Laufer were formally arrested on Nov. 7, 2019, in connection with drug offences.
The hearing, which took place over several weeks in June in provincial court in Nanaimo, saw the Crown call 19 witnesses and an additional three experts, including a chemist, a retired detective with expertise in cocaine trafficking and a police officer with expertise in commercial trans-border trucking.
While investigators discovered cocaine in Laufer’s residence, they did not find narcotics in Grieve’s vehicle or his condo and Provincial Court Judge Brian Harvey ultimately concluded that the only person in possession of cocaine, based on the evidence, was Laufer.
“Thus, I find that the Crown has not satisfied this Court that the only reasonable or rational inference, on a consideration all of the evidence, is that of guilt on any Count,” Harvey said.
Grieve was found not guilty on all counts.
ngrossman@timescolonist.com
