CONTROL OF RCMP MOLE WAS CONCERN

Agent's Steroid Use Cited In Court

VANCOUVER -- A senior RCMP officer admitted yesterday that he had
concerns about whether police could control an agent hired to
infiltrate the Hells Angels because of his violent outbursts and
suspected steroid use.

The volatile nature of Michael Plante, 39, was a "big challenge to
overcome given his past dealings with some of the targets," Inspector
Gary Shinkaruk testified.

The 19-year RCMP veteran is testifying as part of an abuse-of-process
motion filed by Ronaldo Lising and Nima Ghavami.

The defendants are on trial for allegedly trafficking one kilogram of
methamphetamine in September, 2004. They are asking Mr. Justice Victor
Curtis, who is hearing the case without a jury, to dismiss the charges
because of Mr. Plante's conduct.

The muscular Crown witness testified for more than 10 days last month
and admitted he had a strained relationship with his RCMP handlers.
Police had little concern for his health, even when on one occasion
the agent thought he was having a heart attack.

The east-end Vancouver Hells Angels chapter he was hired to infiltrate
was also stressful, with members often trying to cheat each other out
of money, Mr. Plante said. "There was conflict 24/7, between everybody."

Mr. Plante admitted to committing some assaults while he was a police
agent and using steroids, but insisted his use of illegal drugs was
minimal. The decision to work for police was "a means to an end," he
said.

The risks in using the strip club bouncer were identified by the RCMP
before Mr. Plante signed an initial contract with police in the spring
of 2004.

Insp. Shinkaruk became Mr. Plante's main police handler in May, 2004,
and said his colleagues raised the issue of what appeared to be
examples of "steroid rage" by the agent.

By June, 2004, however, the RCMP signed a new agreement with Mr.
Plante that raised his compensation from $30,000 to a possible $1-
million, as part of its E-Pandora investigation.

Insp. Shinkaruk testified that he could not remember the exact reason
the RCMP decided to increase the payments, since it happened at the
same time that a police agent in another probe, known as Project
Essen, was offered $1-million.

Mr. Plante, 39, also received several thousand dollars a month while
he was an agent to pay his expenses as a purported trafficker in
steroids and methamphetamines.

The police agent had previously helped collect debts for alleged Hells
Angels members, but the RCMP was attempting to help Mr. Plante present
himself as more than "sheer muscle" to the organization, Insp.
Shinkaruk said.

"He was fairly limited in the business skill sets that he brought,"
said the officer, which is why the RCMP considered helping Mr. Plante
start a legitimate "storefront" business to launder drug profits.

"Selling lemonade?" asked Don Morrison, Mr. Ghavami's
lawyer.

"Protein drinks," responded Insp. Shinkaruk. The storefront operation
was not put into place and during his time as an agent Mr. Plante
continued his drug trafficking activities with police permission.

The Criminal Code permits police agents to engage in illegal acts as
long as they are "reasonable and proportional" to the
investigation.

Police must obtain an exemption for criminal acts committed by an
agent. The police handlers for Mr. Plante attempted to obtain a
"blanket exemption" for him to traffic in steroids, but this was
turned down by senior RCMP officials in Ottawa.

Mr. Plante testified that before he was a police agent he was part of
a plan to shoot someone who had beaten a Hells Angel member, but he
purposely jammed his gun.

No charges were filed against Mr. Plante as a result of that incident,
but "it would have been looked into," Insp. Shinkaruk said.

Mr. Plante has already received $500,000 from the RCMP for his nine
months of work as a police agent.

He is to be paid another $500,000 after he testifies at five
E-Pandora-related trials.