Pubdate: Mon, 19 Aug 2002
Source: Trail Daily Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Trail Daily Times
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/trail/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1043
Author: Paul Willcocks

OTTAWA EERILY SILENT ON U.S. ILLEGAL OPERATION IN B.C.

Maybe they just don't care up in Ottawa that U.S. agents feel free to enter 
Canada illegally, break our laws and then conceal the evidence from the 
courts here.

For a week I've been trying to get someone - anyone - in the federal 
government to describe Canada's response to a B.C. court ruling that U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Agency operatives knowingly broke our laws.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon found the Americans knowingly 
snuck into Canada, ran an illegal operation and then tried to conceal their 
activities from the court - a shocking abuse of Canadian law, she called it.

"The illegal conduct is extremely offensive because of the violation of 
Canadian sovereignty without explanation or apology," she wrote.

Talking to the federal government from B.C. is generally like shouting down 
a long, hollow tube to a deaf man.

But Ottawa should have a response when a foreign government walks all over 
its police and laws, especially when that foreign government is seeking to 
have more and more of its agents operating in Canada.

Dillon was ruling on a U.S. bid to extradite Brent 'Dave' Licht to 
California to face cocaine charges, the end of a saga that wanders a long, 
winding path from the DEA office in Los Angeles to a White Rock pier.

The DEA plan originally targeted would-be Canadian cocaine importers. Two 
paid informants were told to pretend to be Colombian drug dealers in Los 
Angeles with lots of cocaine to sell.  They found some interested buyers, 
and set off on a trail that led to Vancouver.  They wanted to follow that 
trail across the border.

The rules governing a DEA operation in Canada are clear.  A U.S. - Canada 
agreement requires the DEA to get RCMP consent.  They also needed a special 
permit from the immigration minister because the undercover agent had a 
criminal record.

And they needed approval from the RCMP's top narcotics officer to pretend 
they had drugs for sale.  The tactic is illegal in Canada except under 
tight controls, because of the risk of injustice.  When police approach 
potential buyers, they may be creating a crime that would never have 
happened without their instigation.

The Mounties said yes and the phoney dealer and his DEA handler came up.

But his efforts bombed; no big drug dealers were discovered.  The DEA 
wanted to try again, but the RCMP said no.  They had higher priorities.

The DEA seemed to accept the decision.

But a month later one of the undercover agents entered Canada illegally, 
and ignoring our law and agreements signed by his country, tried to make a 
drug deal.  Eventually a pretend deal in California was arranged, with 
Licht.  He wasn't there for the buy, so the U.S. set out to extradite him 
on conspiracy charges.

That's what led to Dillon's ruling.  The Americans knowingly broke Canadian 
law and violated international agreements, she found.

They conducted an illegal reverses sting operation.  They tried to conceal 
the information from the court.  And they never offered any explanation for 
the illegal acts.  (This wasn't some fluke.  Documents showed that the RCMP 
felt pressured to approve the first operation quickly, because they feared 
that the DEA would just go ahead illegally.)

I expected a run-around from American officials.  But surely the Canadian 
government would have a response to the damaging findings.

But it took two days for spokesman for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon to 
say he had no comment, although he was considering an appeal - on behalf of 
the Americans.

After more than a week of calls, Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay's 
staff still haven't explained whether the case is an aberration, whether it 
will affect future DEA activities in Canada, how many legal DEA operations 
are conducted in B.C. - or even whether they've asked the Americans for an 
accounting for the illegal acts.

Our law should matter more than that.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager