OPP OFFICERS ACQUITTED IN 1999 DRUG RAID

Two Thunder Bay provincial police officers have been cleared of
discreditable conduct charges laid in connection with a drug raid at a
South Gillies property nearly four years ago that turned up nothing.

At a Police Services Act hearing yesterday, detective constables Randall
Belluz and Mark Monker were found not guilty by adjudicator Terence Kelly.

The officers were charged June 26, 2001 following complaints of an unlawful
search by Andy Agarand, who owns the 70-acre property where tri-force drug
unit officers attended on Dec. 21, 1999 with a search warrant.

Following the verdict, a grim-faced Agarand stood up and said, "I'm not
surprised."

In a later interview he said he might look into whether he can appeal the
decision.

"I gotta decide if I'm gonna appeal it or not, but it's probably just a
waste of time," he said. "Maybe I'm just beating my head against the wall."

Kelly is a former deputy chief of York Region Police.

Belluz, a 21-year police veteran, including the last six with the OPP, and
Monker, a nine-year veteran, were part of a team that went to Agarand's
property to search his barn for drugs.

After cutting off the lock, officers found a barn full of old furniture. In
the loft, they found a room hung with heavy black plastic, about two dozen
five-gallon pails and a motorized lighting system using a 1,000-watt bulb.

There were no drugs.

Det. Insp. John Horne, the drug unit commander, testified that as he was
heading to his vehicle he noticed a surveillance camera in the house. He
ordered the home to be checked while a second warrant was obtained.

Officers came across Shone Park, the son of Agarand's common-law spouse Deb
Park, and his girlfriend Trisha Sandringham. They allowed the officers to
go into the house to make a call since their cellphone didn't work in the area.

Agarand was called at work and he immediately went home. When he arrived,
he spoke with the officers and refused to allow a search of his house. He
was told he could not stay in the house because they had to "freeze" it
until the second search warrant arrived.

A warrant to authorize a search of the house was not granted and the
officers left.

However, Agarand complained that officers had conducted an unlawful search
by entering a locked bedroom.

Testimony from two veteran OPP officers indicated that major marijuana-grow
operations are equipped with surveillance cameras and homes are sometimes
booby-trapped. In that case, officers must ensure there is no one in a
house that may pose a danger to them or who may tamper with evidence.

In acquitting Belluz and Monker, the adjudicator said credibility was an
issue. He believed the officers but found Agarand's and Park's responses to
some questions "at best, less than satisfactory."

A central issue in the case was the room in the loft. Agarand and his
spouse said it was used to grow tomatoes, peppers and flowers. But Kelly
didn't find that explanation credible considering that they live in a
farming area and the cost of the light bulbs ranged from $150-$300 each.

Such facts would lead trained officers to the "reasonable belief" that
narcotics were on the property and that another search warrant should be
obtained, he said.

As for the alleged unlawful search, he accepted the officers' explanation
they were following procedure in securing the house prior to the search
warrant being issued.

"This brief check took a matter of minutes compared to a real search of the
premises the size of Mr. Agarand's residence, which would consist of many
painstaking hours," Kelly said.

The Police Services Act hearing took place over four days in September in
Thunder Bay and at OPP headquarters in Orillia.