TOP COP TO HEAD RUC PROBE INTO MISSING DRUG SQUAD CASH

A SENIOR RUC Special Branch officer is heading a top level probe into
allegations that cash for Drugs Squad informants in the North has gone
missing, police confirmed last night.

Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Martindale is leading a 20-strong team
of police investigators who are also probing claims that informants were
allegedly being paid too much for their tip-offs on drug finds.

The investigation concentrates on touts in the Antrim area, where Drugs
Squad officers have been trying to stem the supply of cannabis and Ecstasy
in run-down housing estates.

"This is a major investigation into how money has gone missing from funds
for informants," a senior RUC source said.

"The team is also trying to find out why so much cash was being paid out to
informants for the little amount of drugs seized.

"The officers are also trying to ascertain why paperwork for these payments
was not properly completed and why some of it cannot be traced."

It is understood that several officers are under investigation for
allegedly taking their informants on exotic foreign holidays.

One officer is also alleged to have allowed his informer to stay in
his home while he went on holiday with his family.

The source said that Detective Chief Superintendent Martindale had been
picked by Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan because of his experience in
investigating serious allegations against the force.

"He will leave no stone unturned until he gets to the bottom of these
allegations," said one insider. "If there is a bone buried, you can be bet
he will find it. And if he discovers things were not what they should have
been, he will not spare anybody's blushes.

"He won't win any popularity contests from this inquiry but he expects
officers to carry out their duties by the book."

It is understood that Detective Chief Superintendent Martindale, the deputy
head of Special Branch, had hand-picked eight trusted officers at the start
of the probe.

"He has since been given an extra 12 detectives from crime squads in the
north and south regions to beef up the inquiry as it is now a lot bigger
than was at first thought," said the senior RUC source.

Detective Chief Superintendent Martindale has survived numerous murder bids
on his life by the IRA. In the mid-1980s, he was seriously injured by a
Provo hit-team after leaving Strand Road police station in Derry.

Four years ago an IRA team was intercepted by undercover cops before it
ambushed him.

The RUC Drugs Squad was given extra resources following the first IRA
ceasefire of August 31, 1994 to combat the supply of narcotics in the North.

Detectives said there was at least five major gangs who were heavily
involved in smuggling drugs into Ireland from Spain and Amsterdam.

Officially, a police spokesman said: "A senior detective has been appointed
to review procedures within the drugs squad."