ANTI-NARCOTICS OFFICIAL FOUND GUILTY

Vancouverite Gets Four Years In Dubai For Drug Possession

UNITED NATIONS -- A Dubai court found Canadian anti-narcotics
official Bert Tatham guilty today on drug possession charges,
sentencing him to four years in prison in the Arab emirate.

Barring any successful appeal, the Vancouver resident's main hope for
early release is to be included in one of Dubai's periodic amnesties
for selected offenders.

From their Collingwood, Ontario, home, Tatham's parents, Louise and
Charlie, vowed to seek stepped up help from the Canadian government
to achieve at least that.

Tatham's bride-to-be, Sara Gilmer, said from Victoria that she hoped
for his fastest possible return. "It's what I feared. I'm so
disappointed," she said.

Dubai authorities arrested Tatham April 23 as he entered the emirate
after completing the first leg of his return trip to Canada from
Afghanistan, where he had worked the previous 12 months helping
farmers find alternatives to poppy cultivation.

He admitted he knew he was carrying dried poppy flowers -- which he
planned to use as props during lectures -- but Dubai customs
authorities also said they found him in possession of 0.6 grams of hashish.