A B.C. man who smuggled a “relatively small” amount of drugs out of Canada and into Mexico by hiding them in his rectum was found not guilty of smuggling much of the same drugs back into the country upon his return, albeit this time in his suitcase and evidently unbeknownst to him.

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Daniel Jacob Cluett, 40, was acquitted of three counts of importing substances into Canada contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) in early February following a trial in B.C. Supreme Court.

In his recently posted decision, Justice Andrew Majawa said the “only live issue” he had to decide on was whether the Crown had proven Cluett knew he was importing the drugs — 8.6 grams of cocaine, 13.5 grams of MDMA and a half-gram of methamphetamine — in June 2023.

Cluett testified that he was highly addicted to fentanyl at the time and “had experienced multiple overdoses” when a friend suggested that he tag along on a visit to Mexico and use the trip to break free from the potentially deadly drug.

He agreed and set off shortly after, but not without bringing with him a half gram of fentanyl, along with 14 grams of cocaine, 14 grams of MDMA and some cannabis — all $500-worth “placed up his rectum.” The extra drugs, he explained in court, were to help mitigate fentanyl withdrawal symptoms, which he had experienced in the past and described “as being the worst thing that he has ever been through.”

On his first night, he used cocaine and half the fentanyl before going to bed at the hotel booked by his friend. The following day, the pair spent four to five hours drinking at a nearby beach and used some of the drugs, except the remaining fentanyl. Cluett kept it separate from the other drugs and used it himself when they returned to the hotel later that day.

Cluett said he awoke the next morning to the onset of fentanyl withdrawal symptoms and his friend asking where the remaining drugs were, to which Cluett said he had no idea.

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“It was at this time that Mr. Cluett believed that he had lost the drugs while on the beach the previous day,” Majawa wrote. “He agreed that had he found the drugs he would have used them. He testified that in hindsight he wishes he had looked harder before he returned to Canada but that the fentanyl withdrawal he was experiencing affected his judgment.”

During the trial, Crown counsel argued it was “unreasonable” to assume Cluett had not tried harder to find the missing drugs, but the defendant insisted his condition was dire and that it wouldn’t be the first time he’d misplaced drugs.

Except for changing hotel rooms, eating and one casino visit on his final night in Mexico, Cluett testified that the rest of his weeklong trip — his first outside of Canada — was spent in bed as the withdrawal symptoms slowly subsided.

Because of his past criminal record — which included convictions for robbery and theft in 2005 and sporadic breaches of undertakings or recognizance in the years since — and because of Cluett’s self-described “look of him,” he expected to be searched upon his return to Canada.

When interacting with the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) inspection officers at Vancouver International Airport, Cluett volunteered his Canadian casino ban, his past imprisonment and the fact that he was a drug user currently experiencing fentanyl withdrawal.

“He explains that he thought he might as well be completely honest if he was going to be searched anyway,” the judge wrote.

Cluett testified that he offered the information believing the other drugs to be gone and said, “if he wanted to smuggle them into Canada, he would have placed them in his rectum.”

During the search of his suitcase, officers uncovered the remaining drugs in baggies and found the methamphetamine inside the coin pocket in a pair of Cluett’s jeans. While he freely admitted the baggies contained cocaine and MDMA, he claimed to be completely unaware of the meth, explaining that his girlfriend packed his bag.

The Crown submitted to Majawa that Cluett’s knowledge of the controlled substance could be satisfied by “recklessness” as to their presence.

The judge, however, accepted the defendant’s reasoning and said the Crown had not proven Cluett was reckless in bringing the drugs back to Canada.

“I am not satisfied that actual knowledge, or recklessness if it is indeed applicable, are the only reasonable conclusions available based on the whole of the evidence,” he wrote.

Considering the drugs were not hidden in Cluett’s luggage, the statements he made to CBSA before they were found and after, and his own awareness that transporting drugs is illegal — evidenced by his rectum storage on departure — Majawa ruled it was reasonable that Cluett was unaware of the drugs.

According to the decision, Cluett attended two long-term recovery centres and has been clean since his arrest. He is currently training in computer programming at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

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