Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times
A5
Friday, October 8, 2010
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Courts
Drug trial delayed by defence
LAWYERS PERSONAL INJURY
Maple Ridge woman allegedly involved in selling drugs to undercover officer. by Jeremy Shepherd editorial@mrtimes.com
The closing arguments in the trial of a Maple Ridge woman charged with two counts of drug trafficking were delayed last Wednesday because of a failure to disclose all evidence. Alicia Van Huizen is one of 10 people arrested on charges of drug trafficking as a result of a four-month undercover operation executed by Ridge Meadows RCMP last year, concluding in July. Van Huizen is pleading not guilty to charges that arose from her arrest on June 24, 2009, when police allegedly seized cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, 17 ecstasy pills, and crack cocaine. The arrest came shortly after Van Huizen allegedly assisted in a drug deal involving an undercover police officer. Defence attorney Phil Rankin said he had not received all evidence in a timely fashion and needed the trial stayed so he could conduct a thorough examination. Judge Deirdre Pothecary decided to delay the trial, taking place in Port Coquitlam provincial court, for approximately three weeks. The arrest took place in a parking lot by the Travelodge Motel on Lougheed Highway near 216 Street, shortly after Van Huizen and Chris Harms had allegedly sold drugs to an undercover police officer. The narcotics were allegedly found on the ground near a Ford Escort the two had been driving. Police arrested Van Huizen and Harms and allegedly found $2,360 in Harm’s pockets.
The sum allegedly included $200 in bills the RCMP had been using to purchase illegal drugs. The undercover RCMP officer testified he received a phone number for a woman named Alicia and was told the woman could set him up with a drug dealer named Chris Harms. The officer stated he spoke with a woman who identified herself as Alicia on the phone and she put him in touch with the cocaine dealer. “She asked me if I was looking for a pick up,” he said. The undercover officer testified he told the woman he was looking to buy “an eight ball of soft,” and was told that would be fine. An eight ball of soft refers to an eighth of an ounce of powdered cocaine. The officer said he had no further contact with the woman. The officer testified he met Harms in a parking lot shortly after the phone call. He said he paid $200 for seven flaps of cocaine, nicknamed lottery flaps because the drugs are frequently wrapped in Keno tickets. The officer stated he twice met Harms in a parking lot to buy cocaine. He said he spotted a woman who fit Van Huizen’s general description behind the wheel of a Ford Escort but could not positively identify her in court. RCMP Supt. Dave Walsh said the undercover operation had benefitted the community. “This operation was very successful in that we were able to gain enough evidence to charge these 10 people who sell drugs to our citizens, some of which are young persons,” he stated in a press release from last October.
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