SOURCE: POLICE SHIELDED DRUG DENS

Officers Allegedly Paid To Protect Clubs From The Law

Provided Mobsters With Safe Place To Stash Drugs, Money

Two downtown bars and another on the Danforth were allegedly used as
"drug depots" and protected by Toronto police officers while mobsters
used the venues to stash drugs and count their money, sources say.

Behind the scheme, operating over the past year, were several people
who have been banned from owning or operating bars in Ontario, but who
hired people to put their names on documents to fool agencies such as
the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, sources say.

The police role, it is alleged, was to ensure that the bars used by
organized crime weren't bothered by police patrols or nosy liquor
licence inspectors.

In one transaction, police officers were allegedly paid $50,000 to
help a downtown bar with a long history of licence infractions. A few
years ago, police reported repeated problems with drunkenness, unruly
behaviour resulting in injuries and patrons passed out in and outside
of the bar, leading to the revocation of its liquor licence.

Since the bar's reopening last year, its record is unblemished.

These allegations are the latest in what is becoming one of the
largest corruption probes in the history of the Toronto force.

The Star has also learned that the internal affairs investigation was
launched about 14 months ago, after the force was notified by the RCMP
that it had come across information related to officers working in the
downtown 52 Division while conducting a probe of organized crime.

A source said the Mounties monitored conversations of organized crime
figures talking to police officers about loans and money. At the time,
the RCMP was monitoring a reputed organized crime family as it tried
to buy a bar in the entertainment district.

Toronto investigators are said to be focusing on several officers,
although it is not yet clear which Toronto officers may face charges.

But fallout from the scandal has caused the head of the police union,
Rick McIntosh, to step down temporarily.

Two names that have surfaced so far in reports on the probe are sons
of former police chief William McCormack.

Last Friday, police announced that Detective Constable Bill McCormack
had been suspended from his job from the plainclothes unit at 52
Division. Michael McCormack has also been named as a subject of the
probe, but remains a director of the 7,000-member police
association.

The Star has learned a fourth officer from 54 Division, east of the
Don River, is also under investigation by internal affairs officers
looking into allegations of illegal gambling, money laundering and
connections to organized crime.

According to sources, officers are alleged to have run a protection
racket in order to help pay off gambling debts they incurred in
Woodbridge. They are also looking into allegations that at least three
bars were being used to stash drugs and that the people behind the
establishments are linked to organized crime.

Investigators are also looking into businesses in Richmond Hill that
were used to launder money.

Several bars in the theatre district have complained to police that
they were subjected to shakedowns by police.

While the force is not saying how long the probe will last, Chief
Julian Fantino has said there will be criminal and Police Act charges
laid. A source said this week that as many as six officers could be
charged.

Police have already gathered thousands of "intercepts" between
officers and others as part of their investigation.

They have also relied on surveillance and interviews with bar owners,
transvestites and others who had dealings with the officers under
investigation. According to police, one officer received sexual
favours from prostitutes.

Police have also raided the lockers of plainclothes officers at 52
Division. Their unit, which patrols the downtown bars, was disbanded
last week when the scandal broke.

There have been calls for a public inquiry into a force that is
dealing with its second round of corruption allegations in less than
two years. In January, an RCMP-led task force announced charges
against six former drug squad officers following a 2 1/2-year
investigation into allegations of theft, perjury and fabricated
evidence. That case is still before the courts.