RCMP ENTERED 'UNCHARTED WATERS'

Official Testifies About Hiring Bouncer To Infiltrate The Hells Angels

VANCOUVER -- A senior RCMP official conceded it was in "uncharted
waters" when it decided to use a strip club bouncer as a key police
agent and permitted him to engage in large-scale drug trafficking to
try to infiltrate the Hells Angels in Vancouver.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Raf Souccar testified yesterday that it
was an "operational decision" to allow drugs into the community, and
not one that was made lightly.

"The drugs would be there with or without us," said Mr. Souccar. "We
could be bystanders or we could try to put this operation out of business."

Mr. Souccar provided the explanation in testimony at the
methamphetamine-trafficking trial of Ronaldo Lising and Nima Ghavami.
Mr. Lising is alleged to be a "full patch" member of the Hells Angels
while Mr. Ghavami is alleged by police to be an "associate."

The defendants have filed an abuse-of-process motion and are asking
Mr. Justice Victor Curtis, who is hearing the case without a jury, to
dismiss the criminal charges because of the alleged criminal conduct
of Michael Plante while he was under the direction of the RCMP.

The evidence of Mr. Souccar, who is based at its headquarters in
Ottawa, provided a rare glimpse into the RCMP strategy in targeting
groups such as the Hells Angels.

The east-end Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels was a "national
tactical priority" for the RCMP, said Mr. Souccar. "It is a criminal
organization that is extremely difficult to infiltrate."

As a result, the RCMP entered into an agreement in June 2004 to pay
Mr. Plante up to $1-million to act as a police agent. The long-time
bouncer had ties to the Hells Angels because he previously acted as
"muscle" for them to collect debts.

The court has heard that the entire RCMP operation, known as Project
E-Pandora, has cost more than $7-million to date and resulted in the
arrest of 18 people in July 2005, mostly on drug trafficking and
extortion-related charges.

The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and recent changes to the
Criminal Code permit police agents to break the law as long as the
acts have been approved and are "reasonable and proportional" to the
investigation.

Large-scale drug trafficking by a police agent "was not a technique
we took lightly or had used in the past," said Mr. Souccar. "We were
in uncharted waters."

The Surete du Quebec was the only other police force that had used a
similar technique. The Assistant Commissioner said he consulted with
senior officials at the Justice Department in Ottawa before going ahead.

Exemptions for criminal acts had to be approved by Mr. Souccar, who
said he turned down some requests.

The head of criminal operations for the RCMP in B.C., Gary Bass, once
asked if he could "eliminate a step," in the authorization process,
which Mr. Souccar turned down.

Mr. Plante testified last month that he committed assaults while he
was a police agent and thought that threatening people was allowed,
but denied engaging in acts that were not permitted, other than minor
steroid trafficking.

During the time he was an informant and then a formal police agent,
Mr. Plante was involved in the trafficking of more than 15 kilograms
of methamphetamine, most of which was not recovered by police. The
drugs had a street value of more than $300,000.

"This is a drug that supposedly kills young people," said Don
Morrison, lawyer for Mr. Ghavami. "Are you telling me the RCMP can do
anything?"

"I am not suggesting we can do anything," responded Mr. Souccar. "The
goal was to dismantle a criminal organization. We could not act prematurely."

This is the first of four criminal trials connected to the E-Pandora
probe. One of the 18 people arrested recently pleaded guilty to
extortion and cocaine trafficking.