MASSIVE CASE INVOLVING DRUGS GETS UNDERWAY

Arrests First Made Four Years Ago

It's one of the country's biggest drug cases. And also one of the slowest
moving.

Now almost four years after a series of arrests in Canada and the
United States, the case against several Canadian accused is finally
moving forward in a Winnipeg courtroom.

Six people began their preliminary hearing Monday on charges they were
at the centre of a cross-border conspiracy, with barrels of raw
ephedrine smuggled into the United States to methamphetamine labs run
by the Mexican Mafia.

Two others have already been committed to stand trial.

The case has dragged through the courts while lawyers debated how
mountains of RCMP evidence should be disclosed to the accused.

The Crown was willing to disclose the material -- the equivalent of
37,000 pages -- on CD-ROMs and DVDs, but some defence lawyers said
that was unfair under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms in that
they'd need the proper computer software to sift through the material.

They also claimed it was unfair they should print off relevant
material when the Crown could.

Queen's Bench Justice Murray Sinclair ruled in favour of the Crown
last year, opening the door for the case to proceed. More than 80
people were indicted in the case in Canada, California and Mexico
after more than 250 police officers conducted 34 raids in September
2004.

RCMP in Winnipeg held a news conference the day after saying they
seized 9,000 kilograms of ephedrine -- worth an estimated $14.5
million as meth on the street -- along with $3.5 million cash.

It was alleged the ephedrine was legally imported into Canada through
a Thunder Bay, Ont., company, but was soon diverted onto the black
market. Ephedrine is a prime ingredient in methamphetamine. It's
banned in the U.S. Its sale is regulated in Canada by Health Canada.

Suspects in Buffalo N.Y., and Sacramento, Calif., arrested in the same
smuggling scheme have already pleaded guilty in exchange for lesser
penalties.

The Canadians accused are Aubrey Bruneau of Hanna, Alta., Donald
Sacino of Thunder Bay, Ont., and Manitobans Leah Dyke, Nicholas Chyzy,
Edward Blake, Dimitrus Loubardias, Robert Piaskowski and David Sokalski.

A ninth accused, alleged leader Rodger Bruneau, died of a heart attack
following his arrest.

A court-ordered ban prevents specific details of the preliminary
hearing from being published.