DRUG COP'S VEHICLE YIELDS BAG OF HASH

TORONTO -- Drug cases are being stayed by prosecutors because a Toronto
narcotics officer was found with a bag of hashish in a police vehicle while
heading home, sources say.

Meanwhile, another police internal affairs investigation into reports of
missing money taken from alleged drug dealers by a number of central field
drug command officers may have been completed and quietly closed without any
charges.

While defence lawyers claim their clients have been robbed by police,
sources say the probe has nothing to do with money.

One lawyer says the amount of money allegedly stolen during drug
investigations totals in the "multi-thousands" while another suggests in the
hundreds of thousands.

Although the reasons about a dozen cases have been stayed recently remain
hidden, "there could be a hell of a lot more cases in the future," a Crown
attorney warned.

Sources said in the fall an erratic driver in an unmarked police vehicle was
pulled over by police in Newmarket. The driver identified himself as a
Toronto detective-constable and was put in the rear of a cruiser for a ride
home. Police found a bag of hashish in a search of the vehicle. Internal
affairs is trying to determine why the hash was in the vehicle and, until
that case is completed, all trials involving the officer are being stayed.