Pubdate: Thu, 12 Oct 2006
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2006, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Shannon Kari
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

RCMP ENTERED 'UNCHARTED WATERS'

Official Testifies About Hiring Bouncer To Infiltrate The Hells Angels

VANCOUVER -- A senior RCMP official conceded it was in "uncharted 
waters" when it decided to use a strip club bouncer as a key police 
agent and permitted him to engage in large-scale drug trafficking to 
try to infiltrate the Hells Angels in Vancouver.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Raf Souccar testified yesterday that it 
was an "operational decision" to allow drugs into the community, and 
not one that was made lightly.

"The drugs would be there with or without us," said Mr. Souccar. "We 
could be bystanders or we could try to put this operation out of business."

Mr. Souccar provided the explanation in testimony at the 
methamphetamine-trafficking trial of Ronaldo Lising and Nima Ghavami. 
Mr. Lising is alleged to be a "full patch" member of the Hells Angels 
while Mr. Ghavami is alleged by police to be an "associate."

The defendants have filed an abuse-of-process motion and are asking 
Mr. Justice Victor Curtis, who is hearing the case without a jury, to 
dismiss the criminal charges because of the alleged criminal conduct 
of Michael Plante while he was under the direction of the RCMP.

The evidence of Mr. Souccar, who is based at its headquarters in 
Ottawa, provided a rare glimpse into the RCMP strategy in targeting 
groups such as the Hells Angels.

The east-end Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels was a "national 
tactical priority" for the RCMP, said Mr. Souccar. "It is a criminal 
organization that is extremely difficult to infiltrate."

As a result, the RCMP entered into an agreement in June 2004 to pay 
Mr. Plante up to $1-million to act as a police agent. The long-time 
bouncer had ties to the Hells Angels because he previously acted as 
"muscle" for them to collect debts.

The court has heard that the entire RCMP operation, known as Project 
E-Pandora, has cost more than $7-million to date and resulted in the 
arrest of 18 people in July 2005, mostly on drug trafficking and 
extortion-related charges.

The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and recent changes to the 
Criminal Code permit police agents to break the law as long as the 
acts have been approved and are "reasonable and proportional" to the 
investigation.

Large-scale drug trafficking by a police agent "was not a technique 
we took lightly or had used in the past," said Mr. Souccar. "We were 
in uncharted waters."

The Surete du Quebec was the only other police force that had used a 
similar technique. The Assistant Commissioner said he consulted with 
senior officials at the Justice Department in Ottawa before going ahead.

Exemptions for criminal acts had to be approved by Mr. Souccar, who 
said he turned down some requests.

The head of criminal operations for the RCMP in B.C., Gary Bass, once 
asked if he could "eliminate a step," in the authorization process, 
which Mr. Souccar turned down.

Mr. Plante testified last month that he committed assaults while he 
was a police agent and thought that threatening people was allowed, 
but denied engaging in acts that were not permitted, other than minor 
steroid trafficking.

During the time he was an informant and then a formal police agent, 
Mr. Plante was involved in the trafficking of more than 15 kilograms 
of methamphetamine, most of which was not recovered by police. The 
drugs had a street value of more than $300,000.

"This is a drug that supposedly kills young people," said Don 
Morrison, lawyer for Mr. Ghavami. "Are you telling me the RCMP can do 
anything?"

"I am not suggesting we can do anything," responded Mr. Souccar. "The 
goal was to dismantle a criminal organization. We could not act prematurely."

This is the first of four criminal trials connected to the E-Pandora 
probe. One of the 18 people arrested recently pleaded guilty to 
extortion and cocaine trafficking.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman