Québec City Drug Trafficking Lawyer

If you sell, administer, give, transfer, transport, send, or deliver illegal drugs in Québec, you are engaged in drug trafficking. Drug trafficking also includes the unauthorized sale of a medical prescription. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act defines which drugs or components of drugs are illegal, categorizing these substances according to their danger to human beings.

• Schedule I: these are usually perceived as “hard drugs”: heroin, cocaine, opium, and pharmaceutical-grade drugs like oxycodone and morphine.
• Schedule II: these include synthetic cannabinoid derivatives, and before legalization in 2018, included drugs within the cannabis family. However, these drugs are now governed by the Cannabis Act.
• Schedule III: these include amphetamines and hallucinogens like LSD.
• Schedule IV: these include pharmaceuticals, such as diazepam, benzodiazepine, and anabolic steroids.
• Schedule V: Propylhexedrine and any derived salt.
• Schedule VI: substances needed to create other drugs.

Increasingly, illicit drugs are being manufactured inside Canada, whereas previously, these drugs were imported into the country. In 2021, there were over 18,000 arrests for drug trafficking in Canada involving heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and other drugs.

Drug trafficking is a serious crime with stiff penalties and a lasting impact on your life and your family’s security. No one should face a drug trafficking investigation and arrest alone. You need a skilled and experienced Québec City Drug Trafficking Lawyer by your side. You need Patrick Jacques.

What Is Drug Trafficking?

Under Canadian law, passing along an illegal drug, whether by sale or just giving it away, constitutes drug trafficking. The severity of the charges depends on the classification of the illegal drug—Schedule I-IV–, the quantity, whether children were involved, whether firearms and weapons were involved, and prior criminal record.

The Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the crime of drug trafficking:

• Prove the identity of the defendant drug trafficker, along with the time and date of the offences
• The defendant was in possession of an illegal substance, as defined by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
• The defendant knew that he/she was in possession of the illegal substance
• The possession was not authorized
• The defendant intended to traffic in the substance.

The role of a skilled drug trafficking defence lawyer is to introduce reasonable doubt.

What are the Possible Consequences of a Drug Trafficking Charge?

Drug trafficking investigations are costly and often involve undercover police, paid informants, wiretaps, and prolonged surveillance at multiple locations. When the Crown invests this kind of money, prosecutors are often more likely to be hardnosed in their approach to defendants. This is why you want to secure the services of a skilled and experienced drug trafficking lawyer with a reputation for fearless and informed advocacy. This is why you want to hire Patrick Jacques as your lawyer.

Judges are given enormous discretion in sentencing drug trafficking offenders. The purpose of the law is to condemn illegal activity and to prevent future criminality through deterrence. Sentences can run from a fine to life in prison.

A judge will consider the circumstances of the offence in imposing a sentence upon conviction or entering a plea of guilty. As previously noted, the severity of the charges depends on the classification of the illegal drug—Schedule I-IV–, the quantity, whether children were involved, whether firearms and weapons were involved, and prior criminal record.

Penalties will escalate when involving Schedule I drugs in large quantities, distributed through a complex criminal network. The presence of firearms will act as an enhancement even if the firearms have not been used. Trafficking that involves children will also result in harsher penalties.

The Importance of Choosing a Skilled Québec City Drug Trafficking Lawyer

If you have been accused of drug trafficking, you can find yourself overwhelmed by the Crown, with its exceptional power to investigate and gather evidence and to subpoena and interrogate witnesses. Only a defence lawyer with special expertise in drug trafficking cases can help you stand against that power and protect your rights.

You need a lawyer to make sure you are treated fairly by the Crown and by the police. You need a lawyer who has earned the respect of authorities so that they will function within the boundaries of our Constitution and Charter of Rights & Freedoms. You need a lawyer with a comprehensive knowledge of drug laws, experience with police officers and their procedures, a talent for effective negotiation on your behalf, and the skill to command the courtroom in front of a judge and jury. Québec criminal defence lawyer Patrick Jacques will bring all these skills to defend you in your drug trafficking case.

To provide you with an excellent defence, Patrick Jacques will review the procedures followed by police and the methods they used to put together their case against you. He will examine the evidence against you, including physical evidence and witness testimony. Then, he will compose a credible interpretation of events that introduces reasonable doubt into the Crown’s version.

The particular facts of each case determine how a plausible defence is constructed and usually include:

• Assessing police activities such as questioning witnesses and gathering evidence in case they have violated Canadian or provincial law, our Constitution, or the Charter of Rights & Freedoms
• Carefully examining witness statements for inconsistencies or inaccuracies; reviewing documents, texts, photos, and other tangible evidence; and studying ballistics, DNA evidence, forensics, and any other scientific data
• Searching witnesses’ backgrounds for reasons to question their testimony. Could drugs or alcohol have compromised their cognitive ability? Did they describe the site of an event accurately? Based on the lighting conditions at the time of the event, could they have seen what they stated?
• Collecting new evidence that can counteract witness testimony
• Ensuring that the Crown has provided all the evidence they have gathered against you to defence counsel in a timely manner
• Utilizing the information to build a believable defence that will create reasonable doubt about the Crown’s case

Why Choose Patrick Jacques as Your Québec City Drug Trafficking Lawyer

More than two decades of experience defending clients in firearms and weapons cases a comprehensive knowledge of the law, and a well-earned reputation for effective and ethical defence provide the foundation of Patrick Jacques’ service to his clients.  An intrepid investigator, staunch negotiator, and confident courtroom defender, Patrick has earned a reputation for effective and ethical defence of his clients.

If you have been accused of a firearms or weapons crime and need individualized, compassionate representation, email or call Patrick Jacques today at 418-880-0694 to arrange for a free consultation.