Charged with three counts of drug trafficking.
A Vancouver man on trial for drug trafficking in the Okanagan claims his charter rights were violated during his arrest.
28-year-old Behrang Khosravi was arrested on July 27th, 2016 in a West Kelowna hotel room following a three-week RCMP investigation. He was charged with three counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of property obtained by crime.
RCMP uncovered cocaine, meth, and heroin in the hotel room during the arrest, as well as $21,000 in cash.
Khosravi filed a complaint that RCMP did not have proper grounds to arrest him, or to conduct a strip search on him afterwards, leading to a Voir Dire, or a “trial-within-a-trial” being conducted on Thursday.
Under cross examination, lead investigator Kier Thomson said that surveillance gathered during the investigation showed Khosravi sitting in his car and meeting with multiple people, but only for minutes at a time before they left.
Thomson says this was an indication that a potential drug deal was taking place in the car.
The strip search, Thomson claimed, was standard procedure to determine whether or not Khosravi was hiding any more drugs on his body.
The voir dire is still underway, with more police witnesses expected to testify.
The six-day trial is expected to wrap up next Wednesday.
