Ontario man who tried to fly with 31 kilos of pot from YVR to England gets a year in jail

An Ontario man who attempted to smuggle 31 kilograms of pot on a flight from Vancouver to England has been sentenced to a year in jail.

Alaaddin Koc, 56, was intercepted at Vancouver airport by Canada Border Service Agency officers on Oct. 28, 2024. They found the cannabis in the Windsor man’s suitcase, tagged for Heathrow Airport.

RCMP officers were called in and arrested Koc. He was released as the investigation continued.

Charges were approved under the federal Cannabis Act, but Koc failed to show up in court and a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for his arrest. He was later picked up in Ontario.

Koc pleaded guilty in July to one count of possession for the purposes of exportation. On Sept. 21, he was handed a one-year jail term and a lifetime firearms prohibition.

Staff Sgt. Rhonda Hislop, head of the RCMP’s border integrity program, said while cannabis is legal in Canada, “there is still an active illicit market.”

“The outbound flow of illicit drugs is a continued focus of multiple international partners and is a priority,” Hislop said.

The U.K. has been cracking down on cannabis smuggling. Two years ago, the country’s National Crime Agency warned travellers from Canada, the U.S. and Thailand that they could face jail sentences if caught smuggling pot into the country.

That followed a large increase in smuggling through U.K. airports from all three countries.

“People travelling with the drugs as couriers reported being told by their recruiters that they were only risking a fine if caught. However, the maximum sentence for cannabis importation in the U.K. is up to 14 years in prison,” the agency news release said, adding that passengers were usually carrying between 15 and 40 kilograms.

As well, the CBSA and British authorities have coordinated to tackle other forms of cannabis smuggling.

Earlier this year, the British border force seized a record 12 tonnes of cannabis from Canada that arrived at Southhampton’s port in two shipping containers. A joint investigation with the CBSA followed the Canadian interception in April of another shipping container bound for the U.K.

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