EX-DIPLOMAT CHARGED IN $1-MILLION COCAINE CASE

Police Say Drugs Were Smuggled Into Israel

A former Canadian diplomat has been charged with smuggling cocaine
into Israel worth more than $1-million while he was travelling on a
diplomatic passport.

The drugs may have been concealed in a secure diplomatic bag, police
and diplomatic sources say.

The RCMP believe this is the first time a Canadian diplomat has been
charged with drug smuggling.

Douglas Wardle, 42, was arrested yesterday by two RCMP narcotics
investigators as he left his modest Mississauga home for work.

Mr. Wardle, a former diplomatic administrative officer who is now
employed by a technology firm in Toronto, is charged with conspiracy
to import, importing and trafficking 8.5 kilograms of cocaine with a
street value of just over $1-million.

The former diplomat was driven back to Ottawa by the drug
investigators, RCMP Inspector Dale Begbie said in an interview yesterday.

He later appeared in court and was released on a $50,000 bond. He is
to appear in court again Aug. 11 to enter a plea.

If convicted, Mr. Wardle faces a possible life sentence, Insp. Begbie
said.

Lawrence Greenspon, Mr. Wardle's lawyer, said he was surprised by the
charges and anticipated that his client would plead not guilty.

Mr. Wardle, who is married with one child, spent more than 20 years as
a diplomat with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade. He left the foreign service in November of 1998, two years
after Israeli police identified him as a suspect and arrested his
alleged accomplices. He continued to work for the Department of
Foreign Affairs in Ottawa from 1996 to 1998 when he voluntarily
resigned, Valerie Noftle, a spokeswoman for the department, said.

The department fully co-operated with the police, but has no
additional comment because the case is before the courts, Ms. Noftle
said.

The charges against the former diplomat were the result of a complex 3
1/2-year probe by the Mounties working with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in the United States, and police in Israel and the
Netherlands, Insp. Begbie said.

It was during his tour as chief administrative officer at Canada's
embassy in Tel Aviv, police said, that Mr. Wardle allegedly became
involved in the drug trade.

As the embassy's top administrator, diplomatic sources said, Mr.
Wardle was responsible for managing a $3-million budget, arranging
security for embassy staff and ensuring that Canadian diplomats abided
by Israeli law as they performed their duties.

"He was a quiet, friendly guy," one diplomat said.

The RCMP allege that Mr. Wardle made two trips from Los Angeles to Tel
Aviv in late 1996 carrying, in total, 8.5 kilograms of cocaine.
Law-enforcement and diplomatic sources said Mr. Wardle may have used
diplomatic pouches to allegedly ship the narcotics from the United
States into Israel.

Mr. Wardle was recalled from Israel in 1996, after Israeli authorities
notified the Canadian embassy that he had been implicated by two
suspects charged in an alleged cocaine-trafficking ring.

As a diplomat, Mr. Wardle enjoyed immunity from prosecution in Israel
on any charges arising from his normal duties.

His recall, diplomatic sources said, shocked other diplomats at the
Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv.

"It [Mr. Wardle's recall] was big news in Israel," another diplomat
said. "It was a public-relations disaster for the Canadian embassy.
The embassy was brought into disrepute."

Three Israeli men were each sentenced recently to several years in
jail for their involvement in the alleged trans-Atlantic
cocaine-smuggling operation.

According to Insp. Begbie, Israeli police did not ask the Canadian
government to strip Mr. Wardle of his diplomatic immunity in order to
extradite him to Israel to face charges there.

Insp. Begbie said the investigation took a long time to complete
because a mountain of documentation related to the probe had to be
translated from Hebrew into English and the Mounties had to apply for
permission to travel overseas.