Milad Faud Herbert was convicted in New Westminster last month and the brief verdict was posted online Thursday. “Fentanyl has been described as a scourge on our culture,” said Supreme Court Justice Kenneth W. Ball. “Obviously Mr. Herbert did not know what he was selling. This is because he was representing the substance he was selling as methamphetamine. If anyone had used it as methamphetamine, he would probably be dead today, as swallowing a very small amount of fentanyl may they are deadly. “ Court records show Herbert was found guilty of a fentanyl trafficking charge following a two-day trial in March 2022. The charge dates back to a covert operation near a transit station in February 2020. One of the witnesses was the undercover officer who bought the drugs from Herbert. The officer’s identity is protected by a publication ban. “The area around Surrey SkyTrain has been described as an area where there is frequent open trafficking of drugs and this is common; hence the drug ban operation,” said the judge who convicted Herbert. The officer asked Herbert if he could buy a $ 20 cocaine crack, and Herbert said all he had to offer was methamphetamine, court documents say. “Officer No. 1 offered $ 15 because the fin did not appear to contain the required amount of drugs. He felt the small amount was worth $ 15. The man accepted $ 15 in cash for the fin,” the judge wrote. Based on the testimonies of five police officers, the judge found that there was no reasonable doubt that Herbert was the person who had “delivered” the drugs during the sting. The judge also found that the substance was fentanyl, based on the results of tests by Health Canada. The sentence of two years plus one day, the minimum amount required to send someone to a federal prison, was submitted jointly by the Crown and the defense. Reasons for accepting the proposed sentence, Ball said, “there is an increased level of rehabilitation services in the federal system; available to convicted persons.” He noted that Herbert had already completed some drug and alcohol planning in the provincial prisons and had met with a psychiatrist. The decision did not specify Herbert’s personal circumstances, including whether or not he had a previous criminal record. “Let’s hope that with these principles, the rehabilitation process during the impending sentence will be positive,” Ball told the court. “Mr Herbert does not need to be here again. There are many positive things he can do in his life and I hope he does.”
