SHOOTING BLANKS IN DRUG WAR

Most Canadians would figure that if police find five people on a boat
with $6.5 million worth of marijuana, there should be serious criminal
charges. After all, governments claim to be committed to tough
enforcement of drug laws, particularly when it comes to big dealers
and organized crime.

But now charges against five men arrested on the MV Bakur in August
last May have simply evaporated.

Federal Crown prosecutors say there are questions about whether the
search was legal. That means the evidence -- 1.6 tonnes of pot --
might not be admissible in court. Without that, there was no chance of
conviction.

So the Crown stayed charges against all five men, who are now free.
It's as if the whole affair had never happened.

The case would raise serious questions on its own.

But in 2001 police made a similar seizure after searching a ship near
Vancouver Island and finding 2.5 tonnes of cocaine, worth some $250
million. No one was even charged in that case.

Three of the people linked to that seizure were arrested on the MV
Bakur.

Drug prosecutions can be difficult and searches are often challenged
by defence lawyers.

But the RCMP had been watching the MV Bakur for seven months before it
pulled into Ucluelet in May. Police knew that some of the crew had
been linked to the 2001 case. They had followed the ship's travels
through the Panama Canal and up the west coast.

The raid on the ship was well-planned and included tactical officers
and dogs.

Police had months to confer with prosecutors to make sure the search
met all legal tests.

This was a costly investigation. It involved large quantities of drugs
and, according to police statements at the time, organized crime. Most
of those on board were known to police.

So what went wrong? Who failed to lay the groundwork for a legal
search and why? What steps have been taken to ensure that this kind of
problem won't happen again and again? Are there other factors involved
in this case? Prosecutors have so far offered no explanation for the
breakdown.

Governments claim that enforcement is the most important element in
reducing the damage done by illegal drugs.

That means the public is entitled to answers about how this case went
so wrong.