Strange twist in smuggling trial

A cocaine-smuggling suspect is not the man he says he is, a prosecutor charged yesterday.

And Crown lawyer Dan Misutka said he can prove the real person is sitting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

But the lawyer for the man Misutka is prosecuting said the best the Crown can establish is there is someone else with the same name as his client.

“Mexico is a very large country,” defence counsel Pat Fagan told Justice Scott Brooker. “It would be unusual if there were not many persons with the exact same name (and) date of birth,” Fagan said.

The accused faces charges of importing cocaine and possessing the drug for the purpose of trafficking in connection with a Sept. 2. 2000 bust.

Customs officials seized 60 kg of the drug after checking the luggage of a couple arriving from Puerto Vallarta.

Misutka, who has applied to have his witness testify via teleconferencing, said the Mexican will say he is the person who was born Nov. 1, 1972.

Brooker will decide this morning on whether to allow the testimony.