SASKATOON — In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of a man convicted of trafficking cocaine.
Ahmad Ali Rahimi’s conviction for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking was upheld, sending Rahimi, who had been free on bail, back to custody. The court gave Rahimi until 1 p.m. on Dec. 3 to surrender himself at the Saskatoon Police Service headquarters to be transferred to a federal penitentiary to begin serving his 1,270 day, or 3.5-year, prison sentence.
In May, Rahimi was convicted in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench following a judge-alone trial and he immediately appealed.
The case stems from a Saskatoon police surveillance operation in November 2021. Saskatoon police had issued a media release and photo saying that a 32-year-old man was arrested after a month-long investigation into drug trafficking by the Saskatoon Crime Reduction Team, which is funded by the Government of Saskatchewan.
On Nov. 18, 2021, Rahimi was arrested following a traffic stop by members of the Saskatoon Police Service Tactical Support Unit in the Mount Royal neighbourhood, in the area of 22nd Street and Whitney Avenue.
Court heard that officers watched as Rahimi moved a cardboard box from a Chevrolet Equinox into a Saskatoon house. Later, he was seen carrying a box out of the same house and placing it into the back of a Land Rover before driving off. He was stopped and arrested minutes later.
Inside the box, police found a black bag containing what appeared to be 747 grams of a blocky and coarse substance. Testing confirmed 193 grams of it was cocaine, with an estimated street value between $14,000 and $33,000. Also in the bag were remnants of vacuum-sealed packaging and phenacetin that is a powder described in court as a common “buffing agent” used to increase the weight and profits from cocaine. Police seized a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox, a 1997 GMC Savanna Cube Van, and a 2002 Land Rover Freelander.
Court heard when police searched Rahimi, they found $5,000 in $50 and $100 bills in his pocket and a second cell phone in the vehicle.
At his trial, Rahimi testified in his own defence saying he was simply helping his on-again, off-again girlfriend and employer prepare the Land Rover for a trip to Calgary. He claimed she had asked him to put the box in the vehicle and that he was unaware it contained drugs.
The trial judge didn’t buy it.
In his May 2025 judgment, the trial judge found Rahimi’s story “Illogical” and “internally inconsistent.” He pointed to the high value of the drugs and their easily accessible, unsealed packaging.
“There is no logical reason why the owner of the cocaine would risk exposure or theft of such valuable cargo by sending it along on errands unrelated to the contents of the box – particularly so, when the risk of discovery or theft could be entirely eliminated simply by loading the box into the Land Rover after it was returned to [his girlfriend],” said the trial judge.
On appeal, Rhaimi’s lawyer argued the judge erred by turning the case into a simple credibility contest and by inferring knowledge of the drugs based solely on Rahimi’s control of the vehicle.
Chief Justice Robert W. Leurer, in his Dec. 1 written decision, in concurrence with Justices Meghan R. McCreary and Naheed Bardai, rejected all arguments. He found the trial judge’s reasoning sound and comprehensive.
“In short, the judge’s reasons show that he considered the value and quantity of the cocaine in the box as one of the reasons for finding that Mr. Rahimi was aware of the box’s contents.”
Chief Justice Leurer added that the trial judge relied on expert testimony about the cash and the packaging materials.
According to a police officer who testified, the quantity and packaging of the cocaine found in the Land Rover was indicative of an upper-level dealer.
The Appeal Court also dismissed the argument that the verdict was unreasonable because other suspects, like his girlfriend, could have been responsible. While it was “plausible” the drugs belonged to her, the court agreed with the trial judge that it “strains credulity” she would have entrusted thousands of dollars in drugs to an unknowing Rahimi while their relationship was rocky. Court heard she was initially arrested but never charged.
Rahimi was also given a lifetime firearms prohibition and ordered to provide his DNA.
