HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
CANADA
A man and a woman from Happy Valley-Goose Bay are scheduled to be sentenced in December for transporting just under eight pounds of marijuana from Labrador City to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Richard Beaulac and Barbara Ann Mercer were found guilty of possession for the purpose of trafficking following a trial in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
The duo were arrested on April 28, 2013 when they were pulled over on the highway just outside of Happy Valley-Goose Bay following a tip that someone was transporting a large quantity of marijuana from Labrador City.
The court was told that when they were pulled over the police officer noticed Mercer was “fidgety” and there were “a lot” of air fresheners in the vehicle. There was also a strong odour of marijuana.
Upon searching the car RCMP found the marijuana, estimated to have a street value of $70,000, in a garbage bag hidden under gas cans and bags in the rear of the vehicle.
When he was being interviewed by police Beaulac said they had found the bag when it fell out of the back of a truck traveling in front of them going in the same direction. He stated that when the driver of the pickup saw them coming, he “give it to her.” He said they almost went off the road because the bag was right in front of the vehicle.
Mercer testified that the bag had fallen out of a truck as well and that they were planning on finding the owner of the truck and returning the bag to him.
Judge Francis Knickle issued a written ruling in the case and called the story “incredible.”
“The explanation that some unknown person allowed a possible street value’s worth of marijuana of as much as $70,000 to bump around in the back of a pickup where it conveniently falls out in front of the accused, and then not stop to retrieve it themselves, is not only implausible, it borders on ludicrous,” Knickle wrote. “The evidence of both accused is incredible, and defies both logic and human experience that this is what happened.”
Both are scheduled to return to court in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Dec. 20 for sentencing.
