Pubdate: Mon, 10 Sep 2012
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Gary Dimmock
Page: A5

COURT REJECTS RCMP CASE IN OTTAWA-IQALUIT DRUG BUST

Judge rules against street gossip as reliable intelligence

RCMP detectives trying to crack down on the drug pipeline from Ottawa
to Iqaluit will need to publicly reveal more reliable information from
confidential informants after a judge derailed a trafficking case,
branding it as dangerously weak and possibly built on gossip.

The decision came even though police seized three kilograms of
marijuana in their investigation.

"I am of the view that the administration of justice would be brought
into disrepute by the admission of the evidence in this matter,"
Nunavut Justice Sue Cooper ruled.

The outlawed drug trade in Nunavut is lucrative. A pound of marijuana
that can sell for $2,200 in Ontario can fetch up to $25,000 in the
northern territory.

The RCMP case against Andrew Alainga was built exclusively on
information from a confidential informant. Detectives revealed in
court that before they targeted the Nunavut man, they didn't know the
date of his flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit, the quantity of marijuana
they suspected he would be carrying or the time or the nature of the
deal in which it was acquired.

And because the Mounties never disclosed how their paid informant came
across the information, Judge Cooper wondered if it was firsthand
knowledge or an RCMP case built on "simply rumour or street talk."

In an Aug. 8 decision, Judge Cooper said the RCMP confidential
information lacked credibility and corroboration and she ruled
Alainga's arrest and search were unlawful. The judge sided with a
defence motion that Alainga's Charter rights had been trampled.

Judge Cooper highlighted this testimony from an RCMP detective: "It
may not be documented anywhere but if five people tell me the same
person is involved in trafficking in marijuana then I would consider
that to be street knowledge and five independent sources at five
different times giving me that information would lead me to believe
that that person in some way would be involved."

The judge said such an approach "has the potential to elevate rumour
or gossip to the status of reliable police intelligence," adding, "It
is one thing to have specific factual information regarding a
particular criminal offence relayed to the police from several
independent sources; it is quite another if the information received
is that of general reputation."

On March 5, 2011, an informant called the RCMP and said the accused
would be picking up the drugs in Ottawa and that his travel plans were
"imminent."

The source had provided information three other times in unrelated
cases.

None of it ever led to a search warrant, let alone a seizure of drugs.
In fact, the RCMP did not even record the information in intelligence
reports for future reference, according to court documents.

The RCMP officer checked with the two airlines that fly between Ottawa
and Iqaluit and learned that Alainga, who has no criminal record, had
bought a return ticket in Iqaluit on March 4, 2011. The Mounties later
learned that Alainga had checked in one piece of luggage, which the
officer viewed as "suspicious" because people going south on a
shopping trip normally check in more than one bag.

When Alainga walked into the Iqaluit airport terminal after arriving
from Ottawa, two RCMP officers arrested him for possession of
marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. They seized his luggage and
found 6.87 pounds of marijuana.

An RCMP officer testified that the informant had "intimate knowledge"
and the information provided was "rich and full of detail."

The judge, however, couldn't take his word for it, and found little
strength in the RCMP's case.

"While the court must consider whether the information received from
an informant is compelling, credible or corroborated, weaknesses in
one area may be compensated for by strengths in another. The
difficulty in this matter is that there are weaknesses in each of the
three criteria the court must consider," Judge Cooper ruled.

The judge said that while the information was sufficient enough to
warrant an investigation, it fell short of the legal requirement for
reasonable and probable grounds for an arrest.

In fact, she said the Charter violation in this case was serious
because Alainga was arrested in a public place, had his luggage
searched and was detained in police cells.

"The violation cannot be described as momentary, fleeting, or minimal
=C2=85 The impact on liberty interests was significant given that the
accused was detained for an undetermined time in RCMP cells," the judge
said.

On privacy interests, the judge said travellers who turn their luggage
over to carriers expect their luggage to be subject to inspection for
airline safety, but not for criminal investigation purposes absent of
reasonable grounds.
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MAP posted-by: Matt