B.C. judge tosses drug case, says U.S. agents broke law and violated Canadian sovereignty

Drug Enforcement Administration agents outside the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in New York in March 2025. A B.C. judge said the DEA acted without Canadian oversight or authorization when it enlisted an alleged drug trafficker to help target another man, and 'the DEA was leading him into criminal conduct.' (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)Social SharingU.S. federal agents pressured a Canadian into a money-laundering conspiracy while concealing their efforts from the RCMP, amounting to "shocking and flagrant" illegal behaviour and a violation of Canadian sovereignty, a B.C. judge has found.

In her scathing decision, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray ordered a stay of proceedings against the Canadian, due to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)'s "egregious" conduct.

The man had been facing extradition to the U.S. on drug trafficking charges stemming from a plot dating back to 2015.

Murray's decision, dated April 1, was posted on the court's website this week. The case was first reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Specifics, including the alleged drug trafficker's identity, his hometown and even the narcotic he is accused of smuggling from the U.S. into Canada are redacted in the public version of the ruling.

The "experienced" DEA special agent at the centre of the case is referred to only as "Jane Doe."

The DEA says it operates two offices in Canada, including one at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)According to the judge's decision, the American agent showed up at the man's door with two Canadian detectives who were also operating outside of their jurisdiction. The man, identified in the court documents as "named person," said he was later summoned to meet with U.S. investigators three times.

He ultimately signed an agreement to help in their probe focused on another unnamed target.

As part of that investigation, the DEA directed the Canadian to set up a deal to move an unspecified amount of cash for the target. Agents sent the man abroad to take part in the scheme and by the time he returned home, "he felt that his life was in jeopardy," the judge's decision says.

Murray said the plan amounted to a money-laundering conspiracy and that "the DEA was leading him into criminal conduct" without Canadian oversight or authorization.

"The DEA was aware of the protocols but chose to operate in Canada behind the back of the RCMP," the judge wrote. She said the DEA provided the Mounties with misleading information about the investigation — and it only did so months after pressuring the Canadian to co-operate.

"The DEA committed a deliberate, calculated and ongoing infringement of [named person]'s constitutional rights which was unlawful and conducted in violation of Canadian sovereignty," Murray wrote.

Foreign investigators cannot act as police in Canada. They're required to follow a series of guidelines while operating here, including having Canadian law enforcement supervise their operations.

Despite any deal the man may have had with the DEA, U.S. prosecutors still sought his extradition to stand trial. At the man's request, the B.C. judge ordered those proceedings to be halted.

"The public would be outraged by the conduct of the DEA in this case," Murray wrote. 

"While there is a high public interest in seeing trafficking and exporting charges prosecuted, the behaviour of the DEA in this case is so shocking and flagrant that the justice system must distance itself from it. To allow the proceedings to continue would be to condone it."

Murray underlined it's not the first time a Canadian's case has been tossed due to the DEA's conduct. She pointed to a similar decision from a B.C. judge in 2002, after U.S. agents continued undercover work in Canada even though the RCMP had refused to approve the operations.

U.S. investigators seized 201 kilograms of suspected cocaine in August 2024 as part of a sweeping investigation dubbed Operation Giant Slalom, centred around former elite snowboarder Ryan Wedding. (U.S. District Court, Central District of California)DEA agents have since contributed to high-profile investigations involving Canadian targets, including the FBI-led Operation Giant Slalom — centred around alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding — and the Ontario Provincial Police's recent Project Bay, which seized illegal street drugs with a street value of $139 million.

The DEA did not immediately respond to emailed questions from CBC News on Friday. The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on the B.C. decision.

A large anti-tank rifle, other firearms and nearly $139 million worth of illegal drugs were seized as a part of the multi-jurisdiction police investigation called Project Bay. (Camille Cottais/Radio-Canada)In a social media post, former CSIS analyst Jessica Davis described the case as "outrageous" and "a bad sign for the future of law enforcement co-operation between Canada and the U.S."

The DEA's website lists offices at the U.S. Embassy and the consulate in Vancouver. The agency says its role in Canada "is to co-ordinate international drug-trafficking investigations between the United States and Canadian law enforcement." 

"Both DEA offices in Canada work with Canadians on a full complement of cases while ensuring that our activities are in keeping with Canadian laws and existing agreements," the website says.