CASH, DRUG SEIZURES IN B.C., ONTARIO LED TO VICTORIA RAIDS

Court releases three-page summary of investigation but withholds further
disclosure for two months

Police seized large amounts of cash, marijuana and some cocaine from
suspected drug dealers during a two-year investigation that led to the raid
of offices in the B.C. legislature last December, according to a new
document made public Thursday.

"None of the persons suspected of being involved in either the cocaine or
the marijuana offences are elected officials," said the document written by
senior federal prosecutor Peter Hogg. "Nor is it alleged that drug
trafficking was taking place at the legislature."

The document, a three-page summary of the drug investigation, was released
by B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm after The
Vancouver Sun and other media outlets made applications three months ago for
the unsealing of search warrant material.

But the judge decided Thursday that any further disclosure would be put off
for another two months to give police time to complete their investigation
and send a report to Crown for a decision on charge approval.

The judge had earlier released a six-page summary of a related
breach-of-trust investigation involving the $1-billion privatization sale of
BC Rail to Canadian National Railway.

The new document outlines the bare details of the drug investigation. It
states that the investigation by Vancouver Island RCMP began in May 2002 and
involved two groups of people living in Victoria, the Vancouver area and
Toronto suspected of selling and distributing "bulk amounts" of cocaine and
marijuana.

The document says one group involves about seven people residing in
Victoria, the Vancouver area and Toronto, who were jointly involved in
trafficking kilograms of cocaine between B.C. and Ontario.

The second group of three or more people were actively involved in
trafficking marijuana in Victoria and the Lower Mainland.

The document says the RCMP has seized cocaine and/or money from members of
the first group, and large amounts of money and marijuana from the second.

Special prosecutor Bill Berardino told the hearing Thursday that the drug
investigation is at an advanced stage. He suggested police need another four
weeks to organize the material before deciding whether the investigation is
complete.

Hogg, a federal prosecutor assigned to help oversee the drug investigation,
suggested an RCMP report should be ready to go to the Crown for charge
approval in four to six weeks.

The judge decided the media applicants will return to court June 3 for
further arguments about unsealing the documents.

Barry Gibson, the lawyer representing The Sun, said outside court that the
disclosure being sought seems to be getting further away rather than closer.

"We're going in the wrong direction," he told reporters. Once charges are
laid, defence lawyers representing the accused will ask for the sealing
order to continue, he added.

"What will happen is you'll have charges laid and people will say, 'Don't
release [the documents] because it will interfere with our right to a fair
trial,' " Gibson said.

The judge also denied an application Thursday for intervenor status by
lawyer Leo McGrady, representing the Council of Trade Unions on BC Rail.

McGrady told the court the council represents up to 1,600 unionized
employees of BC Rail who want information about whether the sale of the
railway was proper.

"At this stage, 700 jobs are at risk," the lawyer told the judge. The sale
will affect many small communities along the BC Rail line, he added.

The only lawyer who objected to the application was Chris Considine, who is
representing former finance minister aide Dave Basi. Considine started to
oppose the application when Dohm interrupted, saying he didn't need to hear
from the lawyer because the application was refused. Dohm told McGrady he
could renew the application at a later date.

McGrady said outside court he found it odd that the court had granted
intervenor status to the Liberal Party of Canada but not to union members
whose jobs are at risk.

Lance Yearly, vice-chair of the trade unions council, later suggested
Premier Gordon Campbell needs to halt the sale until the investigation is
complete and full details of the search warrants are released.

"If there is information contained in the warrants concerning the sale to CN
Rail, our members and the public -- who own BC Rail -- should be told before
the government hands over the railway," he said.

The criminal investigation already has resulted in cancellation of the sale
of the Roberts Bank spur line of the railway.

Lawyer Roger McConchie, representing the Globe and Mail, asked the court
Thursday whether any further search warrants had been served since the media
made its public disclosure application. Berardino said he needed a few days
before he could answer the question.

Last week, The Vancouver Sun was barred from a secret hearing in B.C.
Supreme Court concerning documents related to the raids on the legislature.
The mystery application was heard by Dohm, who met briefly with Berardino
and his assistant.

Last month, Dohm authorized the release of a "bare-bones" summary of the
case, prepared by the special prosecutor's office, that confirmed a B.C.
government official got caught up in an RCMP organized crime and drug
investigation.

A second police investigation was launched when police suspected a lobbyist
had possibly bribed the official and a second government employee to commit
a breach of trust in relation to the sale of BC Rail.

Although federal prosecutors and the RCMP were reportedly willing to release
the information used to obtain the search warrants executed as part of the
drug investigation, Dohm refused to make those documents public.

The judge said the case was too intertwined with the police investigation
that led to the Dec. 28 raids in Victoria and Vancouver connected to the
breach of trust probe.

The public first became aware of the investigation when Victoria police
raided the legislature offices of Dave Basi, an assistant to Finance
Minister Gary Collins, and Bob Virk, an aide to former transportation
minister Judith Reid. Basi was fired a day later and Virk suspended with
pay.