RCMP ALLOWED AGENT'S CRIMES

A police agent who infiltrated the Hells Angels in Vancouver may have
broken the law at times but he was always acting at the direction and
under the control of the RCMP, a top Mountie who oversaw the
investigation testified Monday.

"He is operating under the guidance, authority and approval of his
handlers," recalled RCMP Chief Supt. Bob Paulson, now the
director-general of the major and organized crime intelligence branch
in Ottawa.

At the time of the two-year police investigation code-name E-Pandora,
Paulson was an inspector in charge of major investigations with the
outlaw motorcycle gang squad.

In 2003 the RCMP decided to recruit a Hells Angels enforcer named
Michael Plante to try to infiltrate the East End chapter.

"He was trying to infiltrate them and take them down," Paulson said
of the agent's role in the investigation, which he estimated cost $7 million.

"The intent of the investigation was to gather reliable information
about their criminal activities," he said of the Hells Angels. "The
objective was to infiltrate this criminal organization we were targeting."

Paulson said police decided not to intercept shipments of
methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana during the investigation
because the RCMP didn't want to compromise the safety of the agent,
whom police wanted to rise within the ranks of the Hells Angels organization.

He added that police in B.C. had not previously used a police agent
to infiltrate the Hells Angels, so it was a constant struggle to
decide whether to allow the agent to traffic illegal drugs and commit
other crimes at the direction of the Hells Angels.

Paulson said police are allowed to direct the agent to traffic
illegal drugs by giving him an exemption under the Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act.

But the agent was being directed by Hells Angels members and
sometimes things wouldn't go as planned, he added.

Paulson said he sometimes consulted Peter Hogg, a federal prosecutor
in Vancouver, and a top Mountie in Ottawa to make sure Plante was
staying within the bounds of the regulations concerning police agents.

Paulson, who is expected to be on the witness stand for the next two
weeks at the Vancouver Law Courts, was testifying at the abuse of
process application filed by lawyers for Hells Angels member Ronaldo
Lising and co-accused Nima Ghavami, who are charged with possession
and trafficking methamphetamine.

The defence contends the charges should be stayed because the police
agent committed unauthorized crimes of assault and drug trafficking
while under the direction and control of the RCMP.

Plante, 36, testified earlier that he had applied to become a member
of the Hells Angels and was trusted with guarding the Hells Angels
clubhouse in east Vancouver and running errands for various Angels,
and was involved in drug deals with several Hells Angels.

Paulson recalled that Plante was paid up to $15,000 a month and
received $500,000 -- half of the $1 million reward promised by his
signed agreement with the RCMP -- for his services before he went
into witness protection last year.

The investigation culminated in the arrest of 18 men, including six
Hells Angels members, and the raid of Hells Angels clubhouses in
Vancouver and Kelowna in July 2005.