SOLDIER SOLD POT TO UNDERCOVER OFFICER, NEW BRUNSWICK COURT-MARTIAL HEARS

OROMOCTO, N.B. -- A Canadian soldier accused of trafficking marijuana
while serving at a New Brunswick army base sold a small quantity of
pot to an undercover officer last year, a court-martial was told yesterday.

Bombardier Garry Kettle of the 4 Air Defence Regiment at Canadian
Forces Base Gagetown was charged in April, 2006, during a military
investigation into drug activity on the sprawling army base near
Fredericton.

Sergeant Cameron Hillier, a member of the military's national
drug-enforcement team, told the hearing that military police had been
receiving information about drug use on the Brunswick base since May,
2005.

He said an undercover operation was not launched until March,
2006.

Sgt. Hillier explained that on April 10, 2006, an undercover officer
bought 2.3 grams of marijuana - about the size of a couple of postage
stamps - from Bombardier Kettle.

The undercover officer, whose identity is protected by a publication
ban, was the only other witness yesterday.

The officer described visiting Bombardier Kettle's home in Oromocto,
N.B., near the base, on the night of April 10, 2006, accompanied by
another person.

The officer testified that they later drove to a parking lot, and
after Bombardier Kettle went behind a building, he emerged with the
small bag of marijuana and sold it to them for $20.

The prosecution and defence were to make final submissions when the
case resumes this morning.

A total of five soldiers were charged last year under the National
Defence Act with trafficking in cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.

The charges followed a seven-month undercover investigation called
Operation Askari - an African word meaning soldier or police.

The court-martial for Corporal Brian Stevens is to begin
today.

Cpl. Stevens, a 10-year veteran of the Canadian Forces, served in
Afghanistan from August, 2005, to March, 2006.

He says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that that
drove him to alcohol and drugs, including intravenous cocaine,
Dilaudid, OxyContin and morphine.

"I never thought I'd stick a needle in my arm, but when I came home, I
did," he said in a recent interview from Edmonton, where he was living
after his release from the military.

A charge of trafficking carries a possible sentence of up to five
years in prison.

The other soldiers accused of trafficking are Cpl. William Venator,
Cpl. Harold Robinson and Private Allan Hogan.