COP USED BAIT IN DRUG BUST

A Halton police officer who posed as a high school student to buy drugs
baited the trap by selling reputedly contraband cigarettes to teens at
discount prices.

And in doing so he probably broke the law by pedaling smokes to minors.

To gain the trust of teens and to enhance his undercover image, Constable
Rui Freitas presented the cut-rate cigarettes to students as stolen
property.

They weren't.

The smokes were bought and paid for by police as part of a two-month sting
operation at General Wolfe High School in Oakville, which recently resulted
in drug-trafficking charges against 13 youths.

Eleven of the accused were charged under the Young Offenders Act. Police say
they don't know for certain if any of those charged bought butts from the
officer or if he sold them to other underage kids.

But it seems likely that's what happened.

``I think there's a good possibility that he may have done that but I'm sure
it was unwittingly,'' said Detective Inspector John van der Lelie, who
approved the covert operation.

``He would have sold cigarettes to pretty well anybody who approached him.''

It is illegal to sell or provide tobacco to someone under 19 in Ontario.

``Our official position is we would not encourage the officer to violate the
law,'' said van der Lelie. ``And I'm sure the officer didn't intentionally
sell quasi-stolen cigarettes to anybody that appeared to be under the age of
19.''

Be that as it may, this new information casts further doubts on an already
ethically dubious operation that involved officially sanctioned spying and
lying in an educational setting.

Police acknowledge the cigarette scam has them walking a thin line legally,
but they stand by the controversial investigation -- even though the street
value of the marijuana, hashish and magic mushrooms seized was only about
$1,000.

``Clearly we're on the edge on this and I'll accept responsibility for that,
but that's the nature of the beast,'' said van der Lelie.

He says the cigarettes were sold at knock-down prices because that's what
happens with stolen property, and the undercover cop needed to convince
students he was a bad guy so he could more easily infiltrate the school's
drug culture.

``We have a police officer who's trying to act like a youngster and
participate in all the activities that youngsters do,'' said van der Lelie.

``The undercover officer wasn't perpetuating the use of cigarettes by
minors. He's giving cigarettes to people who are probably already smoking.''

Presumably, the actual facts of the matter will emerge in court.

In the meantime, the public is left pondering the irony of a police force
selling a highly addictive legal substance to catch kids who are in
possession of illegal drugs.

Unlike cigarettes, the types of drugs that were netted in the busts do not
appear to induce dependence in most users, according to the Addiction
Research Foundation.

General Wolfe principal Tom Adams, who okayed the clandestine operation in
his school, wasn't aware that police were selling cigarettes to students and
likely breaking the law while doing so.

``I don't support anybody breaking the law,'' he said.

Adams said it's a complex situation and he declined further comment until he
had spoken to police.

In a further irony, the revelation comes on the heels of a private member's
bill by Oakville Tory MPP Terence Young proposing to make it illegal for
anyone under 19 to possess tobacco in school.

Young's bill also targets drugs and alcohol, but it's his idea of making
unlit cigarettes an illegal substance in schools that has sparked
controversy.

Young, stung by criticism and claiming his bill has been misrepresented by
the media, refused to comment on the appropriateness of police selling
cigarettes to kids.

But the tactic obviously has sent police skidding down a very slippery
slope. It looks as if the war against drugs has enlisted deadly tobacco as
an ally.

As a commander, van der Lelie deserves credit for standing by his officer
and shouldering responsibility for his actions.

But given the public hue and cry against smoking, particularly by teens, the
black and white presumptions the investigation was based upon have suddenly
turned startlingly piebald.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"