BASI CASE POSTPONED TO JANUARY

Ex-ministerial assistant Dave Basi is set to show up in court in January on
two outstanding drug charges.

Basi was to appear in Victoria's courthouse Monday but the matter was
adjourned to Jan. 26. At that time he will have to decide whether to be
tried by a judge and jury or judge alone.

The former senior aide to ex-finance minister Gary Collins is facing one
count of production of a controlled substance for the purpose of
trafficking and one count of possession of a controlled substance for the
purpose of trafficking.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred in 2003 but charges were laid in
September 2004.

In December 2003, police raided a Shawnigan Lake house co-owned by Basi and
dismantled a marijuana grow operation.

Basi was one of eight people charged following a joint RCMP-Victoria police
investigation into cocaine trafficking and marijuana production in
Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto.