OTTAWA EERILY SILENT ON U.S. ILLEGAL OPERATION IN B.C.

Maybe they just don't care up in Ottawa that U.S. agents feel free to enter
Canada illegally, break our laws and then conceal the evidence from the
courts here.

For a week I've been trying to get someone - anyone - in the federal
government to describe Canada's response to a B.C. court ruling that U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agency operatives knowingly broke our laws.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon found the Americans knowingly
snuck into Canada, ran an illegal operation and then tried to conceal their
activities from the court - a shocking abuse of Canadian law, she called it.

"The illegal conduct is extremely offensive because of the violation of
Canadian sovereignty without explanation or apology," she wrote.

Talking to the federal government from B.C. is generally like shouting down
a long, hollow tube to a deaf man.

But Ottawa should have a response when a foreign government walks all over
its police and laws, especially when that foreign government is seeking to
have more and more of its agents operating in Canada.

Dillon was ruling on a U.S. bid to extradite Brent 'Dave' Licht to
California to face cocaine charges, the end of a saga that wanders a long,
winding path from the DEA office in Los Angeles to a White Rock pier.

The DEA plan originally targeted would-be Canadian cocaine importers. Two
paid informants were told to pretend to be Colombian drug dealers in Los
Angeles with lots of cocaine to sell. They found some interested buyers,
and set off on a trail that led to Vancouver. They wanted to follow that
trail across the border.

The rules governing a DEA operation in Canada are clear. A U.S. - Canada
agreement requires the DEA to get RCMP consent. They also needed a special
permit from the immigration minister because the undercover agent had a
criminal record.

And they needed approval from the RCMP's top narcotics officer to pretend
they had drugs for sale. The tactic is illegal in Canada except under
tight controls, because of the risk of injustice. When police approach
potential buyers, they may be creating a crime that would never have
happened without their instigation.

The Mounties said yes and the phoney dealer and his DEA handler came up.

But his efforts bombed; no big drug dealers were discovered. The DEA
wanted to try again, but the RCMP said no. They had higher priorities.

The DEA seemed to accept the decision.

But a month later one of the undercover agents entered Canada illegally,
and ignoring our law and agreements signed by his country, tried to make a
drug deal. Eventually a pretend deal in California was arranged, with
Licht. He wasn't there for the buy, so the U.S. set out to extradite him
on conspiracy charges.

That's what led to Dillon's ruling. The Americans knowingly broke Canadian
law and violated international agreements, she found.

They conducted an illegal reverses sting operation. They tried to conceal
the information from the court. And they never offered any explanation for
the illegal acts. (This wasn't some fluke. Documents showed that the RCMP
felt pressured to approve the first operation quickly, because they feared
that the DEA would just go ahead illegally.)

I expected a run-around from American officials. But surely the Canadian
government would have a response to the damaging findings.

But it took two days for spokesman for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon to
say he had no comment, although he was considering an appeal - on behalf of
the Americans.

After more than a week of calls, Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay's
staff still haven't explained whether the case is an aberration, whether it
will affect future DEA activities in Canada, how many legal DEA operations
are conducted in B.C. - or even whether they've asked the Americans for an
accounting for the illegal acts.

Our law should matter more than that.