MAN CLAIMS 'HIDDEN' HELICOPTER WAS PARKED

No Licence, Flight Plan For Chopper

A man who says his helicopter was parked on the Penticton Indian
reserve to save on airport parking fees wants it back.

Hal John Levine of Surrey says he wanted the Bell 47J2 helicopter
parked until he could get his helicopter pilot's licence.

"It appears Mr. Levine was misled by people who told him they had your
permission or the permission of someone with your band to have the
helicopter parked at your location for a lesser fee than the $450 a
month he would pay at the Vernon airport," Levine's lawyer, Jack
Harris of Abbotsford, said in a fax to Chief Stewart Phillip.

Harris said in the fax that Levine "regrets the embarrassment" to the
band and will pay compensation in order to retrieve the Bell 47J2,
"which Mr. Levine is convinced was not involved in any criminal
wrongdoing."

Harris did not disclose in the fax who was flying the helicopter or
who gave permission for it to be parked on the reserve.

The helicopter is one of two that were ditched on the reserve on Nov.
11 and 12.

RCMP and Phillip suspect the helicopters were being used to smuggle
drugs.

Phillip said Levine's claims are "odd" because both choppers were
abandoned in a remote area.

"Nobody has the power to authorize that kind of decision on band land
- -- we'd like to know who purported to give permission to use reserve
lands as a storage site," said Phillip.

He did not say if the band will give the helicopter back, noting it
has detention orders on both choppers.

Harris said in the fax that Levine bought the Bell 47J2 in
September.

A new owner has three months to register ownership. The other
helicopter, a Bell Jet Ranger, was sold last June. No owner has been
found.

Police would not acknowledge that Levine owns one of the
choppers.

"Our investigators are still trying to determine who are the owners of
both helicopters," said RCMP Border Integrity Unit spokesman Alex Borden.

"I would think for a sale of that magnitude, the new owner would have
papers and would have registered the sale.

"We haven't determined if either helicopter was used for criminal
activity but we don't have any kind of hold on either aircraft."

He noted that no flight logs were filed for either
helicopter.

Two band members cutting wood on Nov. 11 saw the Bell Jet Ranger land
and a man jump out carrying a large duffel bag. He ran to a logging
road after determining the woodcutters weren't there to meet him. The
Bell 47J2 was discovered the next day. Investigators say it's unlikely
it was already parked there.