A woman was found guilty Monday of selling heroin-fentanyl via a "dead drop" in downtown Prince George.
The outcome stems from a Sept. 12, 2019 arrest of Crystal Leah Arndt after RCMP officers in stationed an unmarked vehicle near St. Vincent DePaul saw a man give her some cash and, in response, her taking out something small from her bra and depositing it in a nearby flower container.
RCMP moved in and arrested the man. On him, they found a pipe and what turned out to be 0.1 grams of heroin-fentanyl.
Arndt who had returned to her spot where she had "set up for the day" was also arrested and a variety of items were found on her, including pre-packaged methamphetamine and drug-related paraphernalia. The officer also found a baggie holding nine flaps of heroin-fentanyl lying at Arndt's feet.
The matter was taken to trial over concern that Arndt may actually have been the buyer not the seller. If found not guilty, Arndt would have been guilty of simple possession instead.
Defence counsel worked to cast doubt on whether RCMP accurately witnessed what had happened and whether the amounts seized added up to more than personal possession.
However, in a decision, Prince George Provincial Court Judge Peter McDermick found Arndt guilty.
On whether the drugs found at Arndt's feet were hers, RCMP had testified Arndt had been sitting in the back of an RCMP vehicle with her hands cuffed behind her when they noticed her struggling. An officer saw a baggy in her hands, removed her from the vehicle, then found a similar item on the ground.
While no one directly noticed the items on Arndt's person, "the inference of her possession is a strong one," McDermick said.
Moreover, McDermick found the substances found on the buyer were about the same in consistency as those found on Arndt.
Other items found on Arndt included a three-pouch belt slung through her jacket, a Tupperware container holding six Ziplock packages of what was determined to be methamphetamine, two syringes containing an unknown substance and later destroyed, a total of $530 in cash and, in her purse, a digital scale, unused Ziploc bags, a lighter, a glass pipe, a spoon and cotton balls.
It was enough for McDermick to find Arndt was selling.
"It all points powerfully and inexorably to one conclusion: That on the date in question Ms. Arndt possessed the heroin and fentanyl and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking. I am sure of this and I have no doubt," McDermick said.
Arndt will be sentenced at a later date.
