U.S. AGENT SCOLDED BY B.C. JUDGE

The conduct of a U.S. drug enforcement agent who snuck into Canada to set
up a drug buy was so appalling the Canadian involved should not be
extradited to face charges in the United States, a B.C. Supreme Court judge
has ruled.

Justice Janice Dillon instead took the rare step of ordering a judicial
stay of proceedings in the case of Dave Licht, who was wanted in California
for trafficking and possession of cocaine.

"The conduct of a United States civilian police agent entering Canada
without the knowledge or consent of Canadian authorities, in defiance of
known Canadian requirements for legal conduct, with the express purpose to
entice Canadians to the United States to commit criminal acts in that
jurisdiction, and acting illegally to offer to sell cocaine in Canada, is
shocking to the Canadian conscience," Dillon wrote.

The incident began in the summer of 1999 when the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency and the RCMP began working co-operatively on what's known as a
"reverse-sting operation" involving the sale of up to 75 kilograms of
cocaine at a time.

But when the U.S. authorities one day later wanted to deal in only
one-kilogram amounts, the RCMP said they weren't interested in continuing.

Despite that, the civilian confidential informant continued working on his
own and met with Licht two weeks later.

Because of that meeting, Licht went to the United States, became involved
in various drug deals, and was charged.

"This is one of those rare cases where an abuse of process is readily
apparent," wrote Dillon.

"A United States police agent entered Canada without proper immigration
status to carry out an illegal activity without the knowledge or consent of
the RCMP and knowing that the RCMP had withdrawn consent to further
involvement in the reverse-sting operation. This conduct is clearly
contrary to Canadian sovereign interests."