In The News | Drug Offences

Police manhandling of a suspected drug dealer’s passenger was not a “terrorist tactic,” a judge said yesterday in rejecting a Charter application. Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Earl Wilson said the “dynamic takedown” conducted by police in arresting [the] alleged gang member was lawful. Wilson rejected a suggestion by defence lawyer Pat Fagan the conduct of TAC team members who arrested [the accused] and his passenger fell into the “realm of police-state terrorism.” In written arguments to support [the accused]’s ...

A judge Monday stayed charges of trafficking in cocaine and marijuana against a Calgary man because the Crown reneged on an agreement to do so two years ago. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Chrumka agreed with defence lawyer Pat Fagan's argument that the charges against the accused, which arose from an investigation into drug dealing in Meadow Lake, Sask., in 1997, were an abuse of process. ``The agreement envisioned him not being charged with conspiracy and trafficking in cocaine ...

An alleged member of a drug gang can use more than $32,000 seized in a major RCMP bust to pay for his legal defence, a judge ruled Thursday. The money was seized by local RCMP as part of a massive drug bust last September involving 300 officers from Red Deer, Edmonton and Calgary and led to the arrest of 42 suspects. Some of the cash was also seized Aug. 23,1999. Altogether, $290,000 in cash and 1.6 kg of. powder and ...

The lead investigator in a heroin trafficking case couldn't pick the suspects out of a photo lineup - but his civilian partner could, court heard yesterday. RCMP Const. Len Pizzacalla admitted he was unable to identify the accused, 26, and the co-accused, 23, when he viewed two lineups 11 days after purchasing 56 grams of heroin. But Sgt. Ross Shapka later testified the Crown's star witness, Cau Tien, selected both accused as being present when Pizzacalla made the buy. Pizzacalla ...

A police bid to sniff out a marijuana grow operation went up in smoke yesterday when a judge ruled a search warrant invalid. Justice Vaughan Hembroff agreed with defence counsel Pat Fagan that the information used to obtain the warrant from a justice of the peace contained inaccuracies. But Hembroff said "youthful enthusiasm," not dishonesty on the part of police investigators was what led to the fatal breach of the accused's rights. The Court of Queen's Bench judge threw out ...

A destitiute farmer whose only asset is a condemned shack can use cash that the Crown alleges are crime proceeds to pay for his defence, a judge ruled yesterday. Justice Jack Waite granted an application by an accused marijuana grower to have $5,950 in seized money placed in his lawyer's trust account. The money was a seized by RCMP officers under proceeds of crime legislation during a Jan. 26, 1998, raid on a southeast Calgary home. The accused, 33 told ...

A Hay River man was found not guilty of a trafficking charge laid after eight kilograms of marijuana were seized in a wooded area of town last November. Judge Bernadette Schmaltz didn’t feel there was enough evidence to convict the accused, 45, following a trial in territorial court on June 24. The accused’s lawyer, Patrick Fagan, said the essence of the Crown’s case was that the accused had a wood-cutting license for the area where the drugs were found, and …

A Mexican man charged in connection with the largest cocaine bust in Calgary's history was found not guilty in Court of Queen's Bench Friday. The accused, 29, will now deal with Canadian Immigration officials in his quest to return to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, after Justice Scott Brooker acquitted him on a charge of importation of cocaine and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. Brooker ruled the Crown failed in its attempt to link the accused to ...

A record $12-million cocaine bust at Calgary International Airport has put only a minor dent in this affluent city's continuing love affair with the addictive white powder, police and drug addiction workers say. ``We're always busy,'' said Calgary RCMP drug section Staff Sgt. Birnie Smith. ``I don't think (use) has increased but it hasn't slowed down. ``We're an affluent city and there's certainly coke use here,'' he said. ``There is a lot of cocaine trafficking going on here -- but ...

A Mexican allegedly involved in Calgary's largest cocaine-smuggling bust may not be who he claims to be. That's what Crown prosecutor Dan Misutka hopes to prove if Justice Scott Brooker decides today to permit a witness to testify via video conference from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The same request by Misutka was turned down by the judge earlier this week during the Court of Queen's Bench trial of the accused. Misutka renewed his application and requested a six-week adjournment when he ...

A Mexican witness in a cocaine-smuggling case won't have to worry about braving Canada's cold winter, the Crown said yesterday. Prosecutor Dan Misutka said he will be applying to have the unidentified witness testify via video link from Puerto Vallarta, sparing him a trip to the Great White North. But the defence lawyer in the case isn't exactly warming up to the idea. "It's difficult enough to cross-examine a witness through a translator - you lose that spontaneity that's often ...

A cocaine-smuggling suspect is not the man he says he is, a prosecutor charged yesterday. And Crown lawyer Dan Misutka said he can prove the real person is sitting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. But the lawyer for the man Misutka is prosecuting said the best the Crown can establish is there is someone else with the same name as his client. "Mexico is a very large country," defence counsel Pat Fagan told Justice Scott Brooker. "It would be unusual if ...

A trial began Thursday for a Mexican man alleged to be involved in the smuggling of 60 kilograms of cocaine into Calgary, the largest such bust in the city's history, two years ago. Crown prosecutor Dan Misutka is attempting to link the accused, 30, to illicit drugs seized from luggage of another Mexican couple who arrived on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth on Sept. 2, 2000. The accused, believed to be the pickup man at Calgary International Airport, ...

Newly issued passports and vague plans led customs officials to be suspicious of a Mexican couple arriving in Calgary, a court heard yesterday. And those suspicions turned out to be founded -- when a search of three suitcases uncovered 60kg of cocaine, a smuggling trial was told. A Canada Customs employee said she searched the luggage of the accused and found they contained little in the way of clothing. But she said the three suitcases contained five boxes of what ...

The fate of a Mexican man accused of being involved in the largest cocaine smuggling case in Alberta history is in the hands of a judge. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Scott Brooker told court he will give his verdict on May 10, following final arguments Friday by Crown prosecutor Dan Misutka and defence lawyer Pat Fagan, who represents the accused. He must decide if the accused is guilty of being a party to importing and possession for the purpose ...

As soon as Calgary police Det. Ryan Dobson walked into the affluent condo tucked into a southwest gated community, moist, earthy air played upon his skin. He knew the source of the pungent air -- manure mixed with a whiff of straw -- was an illegal grow operation, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw as he rounded the corner into the enormous master bedroom. A sophisticated, intricate skeletal framing system was hooked up in the darkened room and ...

The suspected "greeter" in the biggest cocaine bust in Alberta history walked away from a Calgary courtroom yesterday a free man. Justice Scott Brooker ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the accused was waiting at Calgary International Airport for a drug-smuggling couple. "I'm very happy for (being) free to go," the accused, who lives in Puerto Valletta, told the Sun in an exclusive interview. "Now my next step is to try to go home," he said outside court following ...

Mexican diplomats trying to help three people arrested in Calgary last Saturday on cocaine smuggling charges say they are being thwarted by Canadian bureaucracy. ``We haven't been able to find out whether they are Mexicans or not,'' said Mexican consul-general Guadalupe Albert in Vancouver. ``If they are Mexicans, they will have the protection accordingly. They haven't contacted us -- neither the three, not the police nor the government.'' Ricardo Rangel Corona, 45, of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Evelia Barreto Robles, 27, ...

The Crown may have bundles of seized cocaine, but it has no evidence to prove a suspected drug smuggler was waiting for its arrival, a defence lawyer argued yesterday. "A lot of dope, no evidence," Pat Fagan said in summing up the prosecution case against his client. "There are suspicious circumstances," the lawyer told Justice Scott Brooker. "But a man cannot be convicted on one suspicion or a thousand suspicions." Fagan's client faces charges of importation and possession of cocaine ...

City cops have smashed what's thought to be the biggest magic mushroom grow and trafficking operation in Calgary's history. Officers from District 2 backed up by the drug unit raided a home on Prominence Path N.W. yesterday after receiving a tip, where they seized 865 bags of psilocybin, or magic mushrooms. "These mushrooms were growing on a sophisticated rack system inside the master bedroom," said Det. Ryan Dobson. " This was an aggressive operation, and we conservatively estimate the value ...