Pubdate: Thu, 17 May 2001
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2001 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: David Pugliese
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)

CANADIAN SPIES JOIN U.S. DRUG WAR

Ottawa Base Listens In On Traffickers' Conversations; Forces' Role 
Goes Far Beyond Guarding Canadian Shores

High-tech military spies located in Ottawa have joined the U.S. war 
on drugs by eavesdropping on South American drug lords.

Under a program, codenamed Sandkey, spies from Canadian Forces 
Station Leitrim have been listening to conversations of international 
narcotics traffickers. Spanish linguists from Leitrim have been 
assigned to American ships to intercept drug dealers' radio 
transmissions.

Another group of Canadians, also able to speak Spanish, has been 
assigned to other U.S. units to collect and report on communications 
between known dealers suspected of shipping drugs into the western 
hemisphere.

The program is a major push for the Canadian Forces' involvement in 
the war on drugs as it concentrates on international activities. In 
the past, the military's electronic eavesdroppers have used their 
talents to support RCMP counter-narcotics operations at home, mainly 
monitoring drug-laden ships or aircraft entering Canadian territory.

Sandkey involves officers from the U.S. military, Customs service, 
Drug Enforcement Agency and Coast Guard.

CFS Leitrim spies were invited in 1993 to play a small role in the 
Sandkey program by their counterparts at the ultra-secret National 
Security Agency in the U.S. The NSA monitors communications of 
governments and individuals worldwide. In January 1996 the Canadian 
Forces became a full member of the Sandkey program.

Canadian military officials were not available to discuss the 
program. It is not government policy to reveal details about spy 
operations.

But Canadian Forces officials privately insist that Sandkey 
operations are legal since they involve radio transmissions and other 
communications in which drug dealers have no reasonable expectation 
of privacy.

Eavesdropping by Sandkey spies has resulted in successful drug busts 
on the high seas. In 1998, for example, Leitrim spies played a major 
role in 11 drug operations that resulted in the arrest of 14 
smugglers and the seizure of more than two tonnes of cocaine.

The locations of the busts are secret.

Sandkey is part of an extensive U.S. intelligence network designed to 
keep track of drug smugglers.

That network, however, is not always successful. Last month, Peruvian 
air force jets, directed by U.S. intelligence aircraft, mistakenly 
shot down a small plane carrying American missionaries. A woman and 
her infant daughter were killed. The plane was mistakenly thought to 
be carrying drugs.

Canadian intelligence specialist Bill Robinson says U.S. and Canadian 
electronic spies are known to co-operate and share information as 
well as take part in professional exchange programs. "But this is the 
first time I've heard of regular deployments."

Mr. Robinson says one link to the Sandkey program could be a cadre of 
Canadian Forces electronics experts operating out of a U.S. military 
detachment near San Antonio, Texas. The Canadian Forces acknowledges 
there are Leitrim officials on assignment at the base but does not 
give information about what they do.

But Mr. Robinson notes that the base is involved in supporting the 
U.S. military's Southern Command, the agency responsible for defence 
activities and counter-drug operations throughout Central and South 
America.

Mr. Robinson also says the Sandkey program raises the larger question 
of whether it is in Canadian interests to be involved so closely 
supporting U.S. policies that promote an active military role in 
Central and South America. "We don't always have the same priorities 
as the U.S. -- yet as far as intelligence is concerned, we've 
essentially adopted a position where we have no differences," he says.

Leitrim's role in the U.S. drug war also raises questions about the 
previous alleged associations of some of its employees. In 1996 and 
1998 there were concerns about drug use and dealing at the base and 
the possibility that sensitive information may have been passed to 
drug traffickers.

There were also allegations that military police botched the 1996 
drug investigation involving Leitrim staff. During the investigation 
an informant told police that drug use at the site, involving mainly 
cocaine and hashish, had been going on for years.

Defence Minister Art Eggleton insisted the military police 
investigation was thorough. But a Defence Department review of the 
case released in 1998 under the Access to Information law suggested 
the investigation had been bungled.

Contrary to Mr. Eggleton's denial, the review found serious flaws in 
the drug probe. Among the findings was that there had been the 
"potential" of alleged drug users at Leitrim passing on classified 
information to criminal organizations, namely drug traffickers.

Military police also never carried out any surveillance of the 
alleged drug users or traffickers during their investigation.
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