KINDLY COCAINE SUPPLIER BEATS TRAFFICKING CHARGE

Officer In Wheelchair Who Seemed In Pain Initiated The
Deal

TORONTO -- A judge has thrown out trafficking charges against a
defendant who was arrested when he agreed to purchase $20 of crack
cocaine for a "frail" wheelchair-bound man who was actually an
undercover Toronto police officer.

Fareed Ahamad, 41, was charged with trafficking in November 2001, even
though the transaction was not his idea, he did not make any money and
he believed he was helping a disabled man who appeared to be in pain.

"There are two factual elements that take this case somewhat outside
the usual," wrote Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, as she acquitted
Mr. Ahamad of all charges, in a decision released recently. "First it
was the undercover officer who initiated the transaction by
approaching Mr. Ahamad and asking about purchasing crack, not the
other way around. Second as part of his disguise, the officer was
using a wheelchair," the judge wrote.

The court heard that the constable was "wheeling himself" along the
sidewalk of a busy street in west end Toronto, an area known for drug
activity, when he saw Mr. Ahamad and another man standing outside a
restaurant.

The undercover officer engaged in conversation with Mr. Ahamad and
pleaded for some crack cocaine. "I need a stone (crack). Is anyone
around?" asked the constable.

Mr. Ahamad agreed to go inside the restaurant and purchase $20 of
crack. A few minutes later, Mr. Ahamad came out of the restaurant and
dropped 0.14 grams of crack cocaine into the officer's hand.

The defendant was motivated "to help the person in the wheelchair
because he believed him to be disabled and feared he would be ripped
off," wrote the judge. Judge Molloy said she also accepted Mr.
Ahamad's testimony that he did not know the drug dealers inside the
restaurant and "got nothing out of the deal."

The judge rejected the argument of federal Justice Department
prosecutor Wendy Houtmeyers that Mr. Ahamad was still technically
guilty of trafficking.

"I do not agree with the submissions of the Crown that the motivation
of the accused is an entirely irrelevant consideration when
determining guilt or innocence," wrote Judge Molloy.

She added that while the defendant's conduct was wrong, it "should not
be stigmatized as drug trafficking."

Mr. Ahamad's lawyer, David Berg, praised the constable for admitting
during the trial that he initiated the drug deal. The officer also
testified that at one point in the evening, his wheelchair was stuck
in the streetcar tracks and he was unsure of how to extricate himself
without blowing his cover.

"There was a somewhat comical element," to the trial, noted Mr.
Berg.

"The wheelchair was a prop. I don't think police will use it again,"
he observed.