Permanent resident who smuggled $35M worth of opium into Canada gets 16 years
A Kurdish immigrant convicted of smuggling $35 million worth of opium into Canada has been sentenced to 16 years in prison and is at risk of being deported to Iran for his crimes.
Sohrab Hanareh-Mafarani, 53, a permanent resident of Canada who came here in 2010, was found guilty in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice of importing opium, possession of opium for the purpose of trafficking, conspiracy to import opium and conspiracy to possess opium for the purpose of trafficking.
“Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani, along with several other individuals, was involved in the shipment of over 500 kilograms of opium that police discovered hidden in a shipping container sent to Canada from Pakistan,” Justice Heather McArthur wrote in a recent decision.
“After the police covertly seized the opium, violence ensued. Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani forcibly confined and assaulted one of his co-conspirators, Hassan Talebi. Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani’s brother was also abducted in Iran by others involved in the conspiracy. He has not been seen since.”
After he was arrested, police searched Hanareh-Mafarani’s cellphone.
“They located a video clip sent to him sometime in July 2020,” the judge wrote in her March 10 decision. “In the video, his brother, Fakhradin, can be seen in chains, with facial injuries.”
She continued: “He is surrounded by four men armed with assault rifles or machine guns. Fakhradin is clearly afraid. In the video he pleads with Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani to ‘speak with the owner of the goods as soon as possible.’ He urges him to ‘please solve this problem’ so that ‘nothing else happens to our families and nothing happens to anyone else.’ He ends the video by saying ‘talk to him and come to an agreement.’”
According to the judge, “it is uncontested that in July 2020, someone abducted Fakhradin near where he lived in Iran. Apart from the video sent to Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani showing his brother surrounded by the gunmen, no one has seen or heard from Fakhradin since. It seems likely that he is dead.”
The Crown recommended a life sentence, arguing Hanareh-Mafarani “imported an enormous amount of opium and that he held a high-level position in the drug scheme.”
His lawyer countered “that the appropriate sentence is three to eight years in custody,” said the decision. “He argues that Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani held a low-level position in the conspiracy.”
On Valentines Day 2020, Canada Border Services Agency officers “discovered and seized 507.563 kilograms of opium, with an estimated street value of $35,529,410,” said the decision. “The police located the opium concealed in boxes of turmeric in a shipping container. After removing all but a small sample of the opium, the police did a controlled delivery to a storage company.”
The judge found that Hanareh-Mafarani “conspired, with ‘persons known and unknown,’ in importing opium and in possessing the opium for the purpose of trafficking. Two of the ‘known persons,’ Rasim Kaba and Mr. Talebi, were also charged. They went to trial before Mr. Justice (Michael) Dineen, who found them both guilty.”
About a week after learning that the opium was missing, Hanareh-Mafarani “forcibly confined and assaulted Mr. Talebi,” said McArthur.
After Talebi escaped, he “was limping. He was not wearing shoes, and his socks and feet were wet. He was muddy and had duct tape on his neck. He was shaking and appeared scared for his life.”
Talebi’s assault “is an aggravating factor,” said the judge, even though the extent of it is “hotly contested.”
The court heard Hanareh-Mafarani “was taking instructions from a person in Vancouver and a person in Iran,” McArthur said.
“That leaves open as a reasonable potential that Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani was simply following orders from above when he inflicted the violence that he did against Mr. Talebi.”
Talebi testified “he was tricked into going to Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani’s home,” said McArthur. “Once there, he claims that Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani hit him in the head with a heavy construction hammer, causing him to fall down the stairs to the basement.”
Talebi testified that “he was forced to stay in the basement for about 16 hours. During that time Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani struck him about five times in the head with the heavy hammer,” said the decision.
“He hit him by his eye, causing permanent vision issues. Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani also hit his knees and toes with the hammer. Mr. Talebi also said that after being forced to drink large quantities of water, Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani hung him from the ceiling by his testicles for an extended time. He kept asking Mr. Talebi to tell him what he had done with the opium.”
But the judge said Talebi “was a poor witness” who “was argumentative and evasive. His account of events was unclear and difficult to follow. It also seemed implausible. Despite the vicious attack he claims he endured, he was released from the hospital after only a few hours.”
Talebi, who has yet to be sentenced, “expressed clear animus towards Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani in his testimony… At one point he shouted out in court that he wanted Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani to be castrated.”
Hanareh-Mafarani, who is originally from Iran, is married and has three sons in their 20s and a daughter who just turned 18.
“He has strong family support,” said the judge. He has “been employed in the construction field since coming to Canada over 15 years ago. By all accounts he is an extremely hard-working individual.”
Hanareh-Mafarani “played an important and trusted role in the drug scheme” and “was motivated by greed, not addiction,” said the judge.
He often cried on the stand when talking about his missing brother, she said.
“The severe consequences that befell his brother clearly haunt Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani,” said the judge. “Given what happened to his brother, it seems unlikely that Mr. Hanareh-Mafarani would become involved in any kind of criminality again.”
With credit for pre-sentence custody, Hanareh-Mafarani has another 14 years and 11 months to serve.
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