05-31-2010, 02:50 PM
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Yahookan Zealot
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Operation Deception: Another Putrid Stain on the Coats of the RCMP
Deception - CTV News
Quote:
It was called Operation Deception. The code name for a high stakes undercover RCMP drug investigation with the goal to infiltrate major international drug operations and Alain Olivier was one of the targets.
It all began in July 1987. Broke and homeless, Olivier was working and living on a small charter fishing boat in the town of Gibsons, B.C. That was until he crossed paths with an apparent organized crime boss -- Barry Bennett.
"Apparently they had just bought a container full of cocaine. I think it was a couple of tons of cocaine apparently they had brought back to Canada," says Olivier.
Early one Friday morning, Bennett and another man charter the fishing boat and head out to sea.
When the boat returned two days later only Bennett was on board and according to Olivier there was evidence of a crime.
"The first thing I saw was blood on the boat...and splatters of blood here and there and then I ended up finding a couple of shells, of empty shells of a .9 millimeter."
Olivier believed a murder had been committed on the boat and the boat's owner confirmed his suspicions.
"He told me that Barry Bennett had killed the guy because he was talking too much....and you better do as I said otherwise the same thing will happen to you."
But none of it was true. Years later this murder scenario was described in court as "a play" designed to fool and intimidate Olivier. The supposed crime boss was actually an Operation Deception undercover RCMP officer.
Nevertheless, acting on a tip, the RCMP did a criminal background search on Olivier and the results were astounding.
The RCMP found 11 convictions including armed robbery and trafficking in narcotics. But someone made a mistake. The lengthy criminal record was not Olivier's. It was his twin brother Serge Olivier's.
Despite this, according to internal RCMP documents, Olivier was considered a "major drug importer," who they insisted had contacts "throughout Canada, Latin America and Asia."
Olivier admits he did drugs back then and that he was a heroin junkie but he insists he never dealt drugs.
"They made me look like Pablo Escobar," says Olivier.
In July 1988 members of the RCMP realized they had the wrong guy but decided to continue to pursue Olivier.
"The moment they knew in July 1988 that they made an error as to identity they had a duty to collapse the undercover operation," says Reeven Pearl, Olivier's lawyer in the civil suit against the RCMP.
The RCMP's own regulations state that, "Undercover operations shall be terminated when it is apparent only low level criminals are involved."
Olivier didn't even have a criminal record.
Still, Olivier says the RCMP insisted he go to Thailand to organize a big heroin drug bust.
Enticed by the promise of drugs and intimidated by the undercover RCMP officers, Alain eventually agreed to do a deal overseas.
And so in February 1989 he boarded a plane to Thailand. Once in Thailand, the RCMP expected Olivier to set up the major drug deal. The deal was set to take place in the Northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
It took Olivier a week to arrange a deal for the undercover team to buy two kilograms of heroin. However, the deal goes terribly sour. During the "buy and bust" a struggle ensues on board a truck with one of the Thai dealers and undercover officer Derek Flanagan. Flanagan falls off the truck, hits the ground and cracks his head on the pavement. He later dies in hospital.
Olivier was arrested by Thai police and charged with murder and trafficking in narcotics. The murder charges were eventually dropped, but he pleaded guilty to the drug charges in order to avoid execution by a firing squad. He spent the next 8 and half years in a Thai prison under the most horrific conditions until he was transferred to Canada in 1997.
Olivier feels he was entrapped by the RCMP and filed a civil suit against the force in 2000.
The civil trial lasted a short three months and in the end, despite the evidence, the judge ruled in favour of the RCMP, citing Olivier was not a credible witness.
Looking back at the past two decades of his life, Olivier feels a terrible mistake was made and the RCMP should be held accountable for what happened to him. Olivier says he will not give up. He has filed an appeal in Quebec.
"I'm looking forward now. I'm not looking backward anymore."
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Absolutely disgusting.
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