COURT RULING COULD CHANGE POLICE TACTICS

A B.C. Supreme Court ruling that could change the way police tackle
organized crime is being handed down today in the case of two Hells
Angels associates charged as part of a massive RCMP undercover
operation dubbed E-Pandora.

At issue is the conduct of a police agent named Michael Plante, who
was promised $1 million for his work infiltrating the East End chapter
of the notorious biker gang.

Lawyers for Nima Ghavami and Ronaldo Lising argued over several months
last fall that trafficking charges against their clients should be
thrown out because Plante broke the law without consent of his
handlers in selling drugs and committing assaults while he was working
for the RCMP.

Ghavami and Lising were arrested along with 16 others in July 2005
during a $7-million RCMP investigation.

Crown lawyer Martha Devlin has admitted the charges would have to be
stayed against all the accused if Justice Victor Curtis rules in
favour of the two bikers in the abuse-of-process application.

But she argued in court that Plante's illegal activities were covered
by legal exemptions.

"This is not a case where Michael Plante, the police agent, was
running amok," Devlin said in closing arguments six weeks ago.

RCMP Chief Supt. Bob Paulson, who headed E-Pandora, said in an
interview that investigators would have to completely rethink their
strategy on biker gangs and other crime groups if the ruling goes
against them.

"A negative ruling would have profound, serious consequences for the
ability to target organized crime," said Paulson, who is now based in
Ottawa.

"It is a simple formula -- the only way to attack organized crime is
through infiltration with an agent. Anyone who has ever done anything
significant knows that."

An effective agent must act like those he is infiltrating, Paulson
said.

"He had to survive the day-to-day grind of being a subordinate in that
organization and the expectation that the police will be able to
govern his conduct in a manner that addresses and survives one of
these examinations is asking a lot from any organization."

But Paulson, who testified about the complex operation at the
abuse-of-process hearing, said police were very well-prepared and had
a plan for almost any event that unfolded during the lengthy
undercover operation.

"We were well-funded. We were well-resourced in terms of people. We
had anticipated all these things. But even having done that, there
were still instances that we couldn't have foreseen," Paulson said.

"We presented the nub of the issue in attacking organized crime, and
in the court hopefully we will have a good finding."

Paulson said he thinks the police position was well-presented to
Curtis.

"It is not one of these things that we just ran it off the cuff. It
was a planned attack on the criminal organization aspects of the Hells
Angels and was thoroughly documented at the time," Paulson said. "I
would like to be confident."