RCMP ENTRAPPED SMALL FRY, LAWYER CHARGES

Heroin Addict Didn't Want to Take Part in Thailand Sting, Court
Hearing Told

The RCMP should have known Alain Olivier was never a big player in
drug circles when they recruited him for an undercover sting operation
in Thailand, a lawyer argued yesterday.

Calling his client's behaviour "Mickey Mouse," lawyer Francois Audet
grilled a retired RCMP corporal in Quebec Superior Court on why
Olivier was targeted by the Mounties.

"You pretended he was this big guy with connections and you were going
to drag him over to Thailand and have him executed," Audet told Barry
Bennett during Bennett's second day on the stand. "Why? Did you hate
his guts? Was it your position that all low-life dopers should be
dragged to Thailand?"

Olivier wasn't executed and he wanted to go to Thailand, Bennett
replied. "He made the offer twice," he said.

Olivier, 47, is suing the RCMP for $47.5 million, 20 years after he
was recruited for Operation Deception. He alleges police entrapped him
in a drug deal that landed him in a Bangkok jail, serving a life
sentence. After 81/2 years, he was transferred to a prison in Quebec
and was later paroled on strict conditions. He'll be completely free
in 2029.

Olivier, who was a heroin addict, didn't really want to go to
Thailand, Audet contended yesterday, and was clearly trying to get out
of it by coming up with all kinds of excuses.

"He said he wasn't working, he had no pager, his truck blew up and he
had no money and might have to go back to work," Audet said, referring
to Bennett's notes from the time. "Did he tell you his dog ate his
homework, too?"

At one point, Olivier offered to give the undercover agents a photo of
himself so they could go to Thailand without him and meet his contact.

"This seems very Mickey Mouse," Audet said. "Didn't you think that was
ridiculous?"

"Yes, I said that'd be insane," Bennett replied.

The lawsuit contends the RCMP "relentlessly hounded Olivier through
the use of threats and intimidation" for a period of 20 months - a
charge the RCMP's Public Complaints Commission later supported.

Olivier, originally from Drummondville and with no previous criminal
record, finally obliged because he feared he'd be killed.

In 1989, he flew to Bangkok and made contact with a taxi driver who
agreed to supply heroin to Olivier's contacts, who were undercover
RCMP police officers.

As the deal was going down, Thai police arrived on the scene and
arrested Olivier. He later pleaded guilty to drug charges.