A veteran Peel police officer has pleaded not guilty in a bizarre case that saw 15 kilograms of fake cocaine disappear from an RCMP sting operation.
Police say they found the white powder in a storage area in the Cambridge, Ont., home of Const. Sheldon Cook, along with marijuana and 21 MP3 players. He was arrested in November 2005 and accused of removing the fake cocaine from a truck being used in an RCMP sting.
The truck with fake drugs hidden in its cargo was on its way to a Mississauga warehouse when the driver, who was not involved in the controlled RCMP drug investigation, became suspicious of the cargo he was carrying.
The truck driver called Peel police and Cook allegedly responded, meeting the truck before it made it to the warehouse. Cook then allegedly removed the fake cocaine, which had a GPS tracking device hidden inside.
That equivalent amount of real cocaine was valued at $500,000.
The seven charges against Cook, 40, include an attempt to possess a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking; possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking; possession of stolen property from a police investigation; and breach of trust as a police officer in connection with the other offences. Cook, a 14-year veteran, remains suspended with pay by the Peel force until his case is dealt with through the courts.
As a result of the arrest, the federal justice department decided not to prosecute at least six drug cases involving Cook as the arresting officer.
A month after he was charged, a Peel judge acquitted former Toronto Argonaut Orlando Bowen of drug charges and charges of assaulting police that had been laid by Cook and another officer.
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