COURT TOLD ACCUSED OFFICER NEVER ALONE WITH FAKE DRUGS

A Peel police officer accused of stealing 15 bricks of fake cocaine
that were supposed to be used in an RCMP sting was never alone with
the entire shipment, according to the officer who discovered the haul.

But Sheldon Cook was among three officers from Peel's 12 Division
Criminal Investigation Bureau unit who unloaded more than 100 packages
of suspected cocaine from a courier van to a bureau minivan and later
to a police morality bureau van, Peel Const. Robert Bryant testified
yesterday.

Bryant believed the packages hidden inside boxes of mangoes contained
real cocaine when Cook and others investigated the discovery on Nov.
16, 2005. The couriers transporting the shipment had sought help from
Bryant at a Peel police community station in Mississauga that night
because they had become suspicious of the cargo they picked up earlier
from Pearson International Airport.

Two days later, a tracking device hidden in the dummy packages led
RCMP investigators to Cook's Cambridge home. The dummy drugs were
found in a Sea-Doo in his garage. A search warrant uncovered marijuana
and MP3 players allegedly taken from an unrelated investigation.
Federal prosecutors David Rowcliffe and Anya Weiler contend Cook took
some of what he believed were real bricks of cocaine while
investigating the discovery of the drugs by Bryant.

Cook, 40, is charged with attempt to possess a controlled substance
for the purpose of trafficking, possession of marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking, possession of stolen property (MP3 players)
from a police investigation and breach of trust as a police officer.
He remains suspended with pay.

Bryant testified yesterday he believed he had found real drugs in the
couriers' boxes, so he called 12 Division. Three Criminal
Investigation Bureau officers were dispatched, two in a minivan and
Cook, alone, in a car.

Bryant said Cook told him to remain with the couriers while the
officers inspected the cargo.

Bryant testified Cook and the two other officers were at the station
for about three hours that night but he never recalled Cook being out
of his presence except when the officers were all inside the courier
van.

Officers found the RCMP tracking device but thought it was an
explosive device so a bomb disposal unit was called, Bryant said.

While waiting for the bomb unit and morality officers to arrive,
Bryant helped Cook and the other officers unload the packages from the
courier van into the Criminal Investigation Bureau minivan. Later, he
helped switch the packages to a morality bureau van.

Bryant admitted under cross-examination by defence lawyer Pat Ducharme
that he locked the courier van with the suspected drugs inside and
always had the key with him. He also admitted several officers were
present when the drugs were moved to the morality van.