OFFICER FACES NEW CHARGES

A Peel Regional Police officer accused of trafficking drugs will face
additional charges.

Federal Crown prosecutor Fergus O'Donnell told Justice Ian Cowan
yesterday new charges will be laid against Peel Cst. Sheldon Cook
after new information is filed in the court during the officer's next
scheduled appearance, April 28.

O'Donnell wouldn't elaborate on the new charges, except to say they
are a combination of additional charges and re-worked current charges.

Cook, 38, was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
last Nov. 18 and subsequently charged with possession of cocaine,
possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and breach of trust.

Police laid the charges after tracking a shipment of what initially
was thought to be 15 kilograms of cocaine to a home in Cambridge.

But, Cook's lawyer, Alan Gold, said information he has obtained from
the RCMP shows the substance allegedly found at the home was a
flour-like substance meant to look like cocaine. It was being used by
the RCMP in a drug sting, said Gold.

A truck driver not involved in the sting was carrying the shipment of
bogus drugs to a Mississauga address, well-placed sources say. That
shipment was secretly monitored by the RCMP.

But, said Gold, the secret operation took a strange turn when the
truck driver called Peel Police, believing there was something
suspicious about his cargo.

Peel Police officers responded and found the substance they knew
wasn't cocaine, said Gold.

Cook is defending himself vigorously, his lawyer has said.

A 14-year veteran who works out of Mississauga's 12 Division, Cook
remains suspended with pay until his case is heard.

Meanwhile, Justice Canada has decided not to prosecute more than six
drug cases where Cook was the arresting officer, citing unlikelihood
of a conviction, according to department spokesperson Paula Creighan.

Just a month after Cook was charged, a judge acquitted former Toronto
Argonaut Orlando Bowen of drugs and assaulting police charges which
were laid by Cook and another officer.