THEFT BY DRUG COPS ALLEGED

Dealer Says Police Took Cut From $1m Loot

An alleged drug dealer claims Toronto Police drug squad cops stole more
than $300,000 from a bank safety deposit box.

Roman Paryniuk, 38, alleges that he had close to $1 million in a Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce safety deposit box when police nabbed him in
March But after drug squad officers nabbed Paryniuk and executed search
warrants at three Toronto locations and the CIBC, they entered only
$664,000 into evidence, Paryniuk alleges.

'Much Larger Amount'

"There was a much larger amount of money in that box -- it is my client's
position it was closer to $1 million," Paryniuk's lawyer, Edward Sapiano,
told Superior Court of Justice Judge Russell Jariansz yesterday.

Paryniuk's allegation is the latest in a series of claims by suspected drug
dealers and citizens that large quantities of cash and valuables was taken
during raids by the now-disbanded central field command drug squad.

A Vietnamese restaurateur claims in a civil court lawsuit that police stole
booze and jewelry from his business and another $500,000 in gems and coins
from a safety deposit box.

Civil Lawsuits

In another civil case, a pizza store owner claims drug squad members stole
$350,000 from his store and two safety deposit boxes. None of these
allegations have been proven in court.

Police allege Paryniuk ran a mobile Ecstasy lab, had $3.9 million worth of
drugs and imported 7,500 kilos of hashish to Canada in 1995. His lawyer is
asking for access to the Crown briefs in more than 100 stayed drug squad
cases and evidence gathered by an RCMP-led probe into alleged drug squad
corruption.

Sapiano says disclosure is crucial to his client's defence of the criminal
charges of drug trafficking.