B.C. judge halts drug case over U.S. agents' conduct

A British Columbia judge has stayed extradition proceedings against a Canadian man accused of drug trafficking after finding that U.S. federal agents acted unlawfully in Canada and violated Canadian sovereignty. In a decision posted this week, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray said Drug Enforcement Administration agents pressured the man into a moneylaundering scheme while keeping the RCMP in the dark. She described the conduct as “shocking and flagrant” and said the DEA led him into criminal activity without Canadian oversight. The case involved allegations tied to a 2015 drugtrafficking plot, though key details were redacted in the public ruling. Murray said the public would be outraged by the agents’ actions and concluded that allowing the extradition to continue would amount to condoning the behaviour. The decision also pointed to a similar B.C. ruling from 2002 involving U.S. agents operating in Canada without proper approval.