EX-ADDICT SUING RCMP, CLAIMS HE WAS ENTRAPPED

Alain Olivier was a small-time drug addict who alleges he was used by
the RCMP to set up a drug deal in Thailand, then was sentenced to
life in prison for his deed. Now, almost 20 years later, he's suing
the RCMP for $47.5 million for entrapment.

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

Olivier, a Drummondville resident with no previous criminal record,
finally obliged because he was afraid he'd be killed.

In 1987, he'd been identified to the RCMP as a possible drug importer
by informant Glen Barry, who had a charter boat company in Gibson's
Landing, B.C. Olivier was working at Barry's firm.

In Quebec Superior Court yesterday, retired RCMP Cpl. Barry Bennett
acknowledged that Barry was motivated by money and would get paid
only if he connected the police to targets.

In July 1987, Bennett testified, he borrowed one of Barry's boats to
go fishing with his brother and fired a few rounds from his service
revolver into the Georgia Strait for target practice.

The next day, Bennett said, he returned the boat to Barry, but
without his brother because the waters were too rough for him to
travel. Two shell casings were in the boat, as was fish blood,
although Bennett claimed yesterday he would have cleaned the boat
before returning it.

Olivier contends the message was clear: If he didn't co-operate and
import heroin, he'd end up dead, like the boat passenger.

On Feb. 11, 1989, Olivier flew to Bangkok and made contact with a
local taxi driver. The cabbie agreed to supply heroin to Olivier's
contacts, who were undercover RCMP police officers.

As the deal was being made between the undercover agents and the
supplier, Thai police arrived. An undercover Canadian officer, RCMP
Cpl. Derek Flanagan, was shot and killed.

Olivier was arrested and charged on several drug counts and with the
murder of Flanagan. All charges carried the death penalty in Thailand.

The murder charge was dropped in April 1989, and Olivier escaped the
death penalty only by pleading guilty to the other charges. He spent
81/2 years in a Thai prison before being transferred to a Quebec
jail. He's now on parole until 2029.