WIFE SET FREE AFTER HUSBAND'S DRUG PLEA

Alleged Ecstasy Boss Faces Heavy Time In U.S. Jail

TORONTO - When Kay Wu was arrested in her Toronto home last year in a
massive anti-drug sweep, U.S. authorities pegged her as a major player --
listing her second in their lengthy indictment against 21 men and women
accused of running the largest Ecstasy ring on the continent.

The only name listed above hers by a New York City court was that of her
husband, Ze Wai Wong, who is the alleged kingpin in a cross-border drug and
money laundering ring of huge proportions.

Yesterday, in Ontario Superior Court, the U.S. government had a
significantly different message for Ms. Wu: All is forgiven.

The withdrawal of the U.S. government's request for extradition against Ms.
Wu, who was born in China but obtained Canadian citizenship, comes in
exchange for her husband's agreement last December to turn himself over to
U.S. officials.

The stakes for both were high.

Wong, 46, and Ms. Wu, 40, were both arrested in Toronto on March 31, 2004,
during co-ordinated arrests in 16 U.S. cities as well as in Ottawa and
Montreal.

In all, 170 were arrested.

Later that day, officials in Washington, D.C., Toronto and Ottawa each
announced with fanfare that they had smashed a network using Ontario as a
base to flood the U.S. with the club drug Ecstacy. The organization was
accused of pumping out 15% of the total U.S. supply.

Wong was named as the boss of the operation that included alleged gangsters
with colourful nicknames, including Sloppy, Big Boobs and The Principal.

After the arrests, however, serious negotiations began, leading to
yesterday's unusual deal that sees Wong facing harsher justice in the U.S.
- -- up to 40 years in prison -- in return for Ms. Wu, and the couple's two
children, being allowed to remain in Canada.

The twist adds a hard-luck love story to a sordid crime chronicle.

"His continuing to fight his extradition would have put her and her case in
jeopardy," said Randall Barrs, Ms. Wu's lawyer, outside of court.

"I had an agreement worked out when her husband waived his extradition. I
felt her husband had very few options. Obviously, we wanted to make a deal
for Kay," he said.

The New York indictment alleged that in 2002 Ms. Wu -- at the direction of
her husband -- passed approximately 800 Ecstasy pills to an undercover
American law enforcement officer operating in Toronto on the case.

"They were painting her as the madame of international Ecstasy trafficking.
That wasn't fair and not borne out by the evidence," said Mr. Barrs.

"It was largely a case of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time
and her association with her husband put her in the worst possible light,"
he said.

Yesterday's short court appearance was the final piece of an elaborate
series of formal and informal plea deals by Wong and Ms. Wu, made with both
U.S. and Canadian justice officials.

The result was an orchestrated series of court actions.

On Dec. 1, all but one of the 39 charges laid in Canada against Wong --
including rarely used counts under the new anti-gang legislation -- were
dropped.

In return, he pleaded guilty to a single drug charge and was handed a
sentence of time already served in jail.

The next day, he signed papers agreeing to surrender to the Americans.

Then, on Dec. 8, four charges against Ms. Wu were withdrawn. She also
agreed to plead guilty to a single drug charge involving marijuana, and was
given a conditional sentence, meaning no time in jail.

On Jan. 18, Wong was escorted out of Canada.

Ms. Wu was then left wondering -- out on bail and caring for her two
children, a boy and a girl, aged 14 and 12 -- whether the U.S. government
would keep its word.

That did not take place until yesterday morning. "You're discharged,"
declared Justice Sandra Chapnik at the end of a two minute court hearing.
"The matter is over."

Ms. Wu said she was relieved.

"This has been extremely difficult for her, facing extradition to the
States and separation from her children," said Mr. Barrs.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York declined to
comment on the case, yesterday.

Wong is awaiting a U.S. court appearance, scheduled for May.