BY RATTAN MALL
KASIMIR Tyabji-Sandana, son of former MLA Judi Tyabji who married former B.C. Leader of the Opposition Gordon Wilson, who will be facing a trial in a serious drug case in September, has been campaigning for the Liberal Party on the Sunshine Coast.
Back in 2015, Kasimir, then 27, was arrested and charged with one count of importing a controlled substance after a drug bust in Calgary.
Calgary Police said in a press release on July 14, 2015, that a Border Services Officer at the Canadian Border Services Agency’s Vancouver International Mail Centre intercepted a parcel declared as a “muffler” that was destined for a Calgary resident. As the officer was conducting an examination of the parcel, an unknown white powder was found and the officer suspected it to be fentanyl.
The officer sent a sample of the unknown substance to the CBSA Laboratory, which confirmed her suspicion and CBSA engaged the support of the RCMP to further the investigation. The RCMP then began working with Calgary Police Service and on July 22, a warrant was executed on a Calgary residence in the 2400 block of 14 Street S.W., resulting in one arrest. Through the investigation, 122 grams of fentanyl was seized with an estimated value of $348,000.
Kasimir’s mother, Judi, described his arrest in detail on Facebook, but believes that her son was set up. Incidentally, she is the author of Premier Christy Clark’s biography. His stepfather, Wilson, is Christy Clark’s LNG commissioner. His stepbrother, Mathew Wilson, is the Liberal candidate in Powell River-Sunshine Coast.
Here is part of Judi’s version of her son’s innocence on her Facebook:
All of the evidence against Kaz is in front of the court: his name was on a package shipped to his Calgary apartment. This package came from China, and contained fentanyl. It was intercepted in Vancouver, where the police removed the fentanyl, replaced it with a benign substance and resealed it. An undercover police officer delivered the resealed package, which had Chinese characters on it, to Kaz’ Calgary apartment. He signed for it, and put it on the counter.
Minutes later, the Calgary drug police, fully armed, broke into the apartment. Kaz tossed the package out the window. Kaz was thrown to the floor and arrested, and his apartment was fully searched. No drugs, no paraphenalia and no weapons were found. Kaz cell phone and laptop were seized and yielded no evidence related to drugs of any kind. His bank records and credit card records showed he barely had money for his travel home, and had no evidence related to drugs of any kind.
Some time late in 2017 a judge will have a chance to decide if this is evidence for fentanyl importation. Kaz told the police he had never heard of fentanyl before.
