Alberta man's quick trip across Canada-U.S. border becomes fentanyl nightmare

Global News

4 days ago

It was supposed to be a fun February outing for Calgarian Krisztian Riez — a quick day trip across the border to Montana to pick up up a friend, grab a bite to eat, and then head back home to Alberta.
His friend's daughter (who is also his goddaughter) was supposed to join them, too, but ended up being too sick with the flu to travel.
To make the trip more comfortable, Riez decided to rent a minivan through Turo,a peer-to-peer rental company that uses the advertising slogan, 'skip the rental car counter.'
It's a company Riez said he's rented from before — about a half dozen times.
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Krisztian Riez says he rented from Turo about a half dozen times before his latest experience with the company landed him in trouble at the Canada-U.S. border. Turo.com
All went as planned until they arrived back at the international border and officers with the Canadian Border Services Agency, pulled them aside for some secondary screening.
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'There was a big shed or something, a screening area. I was like, cool, nothing to hide, go for it,' said Riez.
'When they screened it, they said step outside, a list of questions — I listened, I followed, and then they're like, 'fentanyl hit.''
Riez was in shock.
'They're like yeah, you got a hit for fentanyl on the steering wheel and on the back of the seat, now you're detained, and one of the border officers was like, 'We're gonna find it on you,' and then the other one was going through my phone, going through his (friend's) phone, going through my business, going through the car. (They) had the dog go through, they scanned every piece of luggage through, they ripped the inside of it out as well,' said Riez.
'I was like, what is happening? The whole world is flipping out right now. (I) never touch drugs.' And his friend, said Riez, doesn't drink and doesn't smoke.
'The (CBSA) officer told me. 'You're lucky your goddaughter didn't come because she had the flu.' And I was like, 'Why is that?' He goes, well, 'Possibly she'd be dead.''
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The officer told Riez they found traces of fentanyl on the steering wheel and on the back of the seat — right where his friend's daughter would've been sitting. That revelation, said Riez, was scary.
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'As you know, kids like to play with their hands, and so she would have been in the back, right behind me. The likelihood of her touching her hands on the seat was high, and I was driving for how many hours, and I had no clue.'
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Riez told Global News that CBSA officers claimed they found traces of fentanyl in the minivan that he rented from Turo. He and a friend were detained for several hours. Global News
After several hours of questioning, Riez and his friend were released.
'They were going, 'It's not you' — clearly it's not me — 'but you know what we need to do.' They let us go, didn't detain us, didn't seize the car. They said it was the one (minivan user) prior that was possibly having fentanyl on them.'
When Riez got back to Calgary, he contacted Turo.
'They said 'We need CBSA documentation,'' said Riez. 'I said, that takes 30 days and they said, it didn't exist then. So I said 'OK, well here's a notarized affidavit.' I got a passenger notarized affidavit, meaning I could go to jail for fake statements — but they kept denying it,' added Riez.
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Eventually, after going back and forth with them three or four times they promised to look into the matter and Riez said they told him they'd restrict the vehicle from being rented.
'My gut was like, 'Did they really?'' said Riez. 'Literally that night or the next morning, the vehicle was still available.'
Global News contacted Turo and the company emailed a written response that said, 'Although we are limited in commenting on open litigation, we have conducted a thorough investigation of this matter, including a review of Border Services records. Mr. Riez's allegations regarding the presence of fentanyl in the vehicle are not supported by the records available to Turo.
'In fact, the records show that Border Services did not seize the vehicle or take any action against Mr. Riez, and he was permitted to cross the border with the vehicle.
'This is the first time we can recall anyone making these kinds of allegations and we are confident in our safety standards and longstanding policies requiring clean, safe vehicles. Additionally, we confirmed with the vehicle's owner that it was thoroughly cleaned before being re-listed.'
Mary O'Sullivan-Andersen, vice-president of the Better Business Bureau in Alberta told Global News, 'If you enter into any type of an agreement as a consumer, it is reasonable that you should be able to expect that your safety is coming first.'
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But with the proliferation of rental companies such as Turo, she also advises consumers to do their own research and due diligence up front 'to understand everything that you're getting into, not just from the contract and the service, but what is the potential for liability or increased risk.'
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Mary O'Sullivan-Andersen of the Better Business Bureau says the proliferation of peer to peer rental sites means consumers need to do their due diligence upfront 'to understand everything that you're getting into, including the increased risk and potential for liability. Global News
'Because the landscape has changed so much,' added O'Sullivan-Andersen, 'there's a shift in responsibility that consumers really need to make sure that we're doing that work on the front end to know what we're getting into.'
Riez has since filed a lawsuit against Turo, but the time the company has to respond to the lawsuit hasn't expired yet.
He has also contacted lawmakers on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border in hopes something can be done to prevent anyone else from being caught up in a similar situation.
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'For me, it wasn't about the delay,' said Riez, 'it was about getting Turo to recognize that there is an issue, and it's not just Turo, it's all car share.'
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Krisztian Riez tells Global News, he's been afraid to cross the Canada-U.S. border since February 19, the day he and a friend were detained after CBSA officers found traces of fentanyl in the vehicle he rented from Turo. Global News
Riez, who also has family in the U.S., told Global News that he's now afraid to cross the border because if he had happened to be detained at American customs, he says he and his friend probably would've been thrown in jail.
'I have not crossed the border since then, neither has my buddy, or even flying. I'm very hesitant to fly across the border because what is going to happen,' said Riez.
As for why he's continuing the fight, Riez told Global News, 'I think, for me, it's the (potential) killing my goddaughter, that hits home. And I have two kids and for that reason alone, that's the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing — is to create as much awareness as possible.'