A new trial has been ordered for Kien (Kenny) Trung Pham. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Appeal granted

New trial ordered for Nanaimo drug trafficker jailed for 15 years

Sep 18, 2025 | 12:57 PM

NANAIMO — A new Supreme Court trial will proceed for a Nanaimo man convicted of numerous drug and weapons offences related to busts in Nanaimo.

However, convictions on charges related to a sizable crystal meth seizure at Vancouver International Airport remain intact for 45-year-old Kien Trung Pham.

A B.C. Court of Appeal judgment published on Wednesday, Sept. 17 focused on cooperation between employees at a local courier company and Nanaimo RCMP during a May 2019 police investigation.

“The trial judge committed reversible error in his approach to one of the appellant’s Section 8 claims, namely, that Loomis employees acted as “state agents” when they set aside packages delivered to them for the purposes of police retrieval,” the court of appeal judgment ruled.

Section 8 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms relates to the right to security against unreasonable search or seizure.

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Justice Robin Baird, the presiding judge in last year’s trial, asserted Nanaimo Loomis Express employees were merely cooperative citizens.

The appeals court ruled justice Baird overlooked evidence that actions by Loomis staff resulted from police instructions, such as code phrases to avoid tipping off suspects and removing packages from the mail stream.

Evidence seized by police during a May 23, 2019, traffic stop to prosecute Pham included cell phones and keys to Pham’s Summerhill Pl. suite.

Identifying labels for packages found during the traffic stop included a package delivered to Loomis Express containing nearly two kilograms of methamphetamine.

Mounties located nearly 180 grams of fentanyl and 28 grams of cocaine from the central Nanaimo apartment unit, along with several weapons, including semi-automatic handguns.

A two-judge appeals court panel agreed the appropriate course of action moving forward is a new trial to allow a judge to assess the “state agency” aspect of the allegations against Pham.

“…and then assess what, if any, impact those conclusions carry for the constitutionality of next steps taken in the police investigation, including subsequent searches and seizures.”

Not up for dispute by Pham’s lawyer was nearly 7.5 kilograms of New Zealand-bound meth intercepted by Canadian Border Services Agency officers at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in May 2019.

A Crown expert at Pham’s trial estimated the Canadian street value of drugs seized at YVR was worth upwards of $750,000.

The intercepted drugs were concealed in containers disguised as fitness supplements under the name of a fake nutrition company.

Pham was convicted following a lengthy five-week judge-alone trial in Nanaimo.

Justice Baird categorized Pham, not a drug addict himself, as a parasite who enriched himself at the destruction of others.

As part of a separate high-profile case, Pham and co-accused Gordon Brooks face multiple charges for their alleged roles in connection with an extended dark web investigation involving the online shipping of various drugs.

None of the allegations involving the dark web case have been tested in court as pretrial procedural appearances continue.

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