A former Victoria police officer has doomed a massive drug and weapons bust and VicPD has been instrumental in this botched endeavour.
One of BC’s biggest drug and weapons busts is now in jeopardy because of the actions of one disgraced VicPD officer and because of the actions of the police department as a whole.
Back in May 2020, an investigation was launched by VicPD into Vu Bao Nguyen and Byran Balla, two suspected drug dealers in Victoria.
One of the VicPD officers in charge of this case was Rob Ferris, who the police department knew to be corrupt and had him investigated by an anti-corruption branch of the RCMP.
The initial investigation into Balla and Nguyen was launched but then thrown out because of Ferris’ criminal dealings, but then VicPD launched a brand new case into the pair, having to “relearn” everything they had previously learnt during the first investigation.
This second investigation, dubbed “Project Juliet,” was headed up by VicPD utilizing all the same officers except for Ferris because of his own criminal activity.
Ferris was accused of sharing classified information regarding VicPD cases with the public, his family and obstructing justice because of his actions.
Even though Ferris’ investigation was a blunder, the second was successful in that Balla, Nguyen and their alleged dealer Brent Van Buskirk were arrested.
Following the trio’s arrest, $30 million in drugs and weapons were seized.
Fast forward to 2024, this entire case is being put in jeopardy because Van Buskirk is seeking to get his hands on documents that detail how the first investigation involving Ferris impacted the way the second investigation was launched.
A court judge has granted Van Buskirk’s legal team the opportunity to review VicPD documents that show how Victoria police officer, Cst. Kim Taylor reportedly lied about how she received information to launch the second investigation into Balla and Nguyen.
Taylor and the other VicPD officers who were involved in this drug and weapons bust were found to have misled the court when it went to trial by lying about Ferris’ involvement.
“In Project Juliet investigators misled the Crown, defence and issuing Justices by concealing the existence of the first investigation,” wrote Justice Catherine Murray, the presiding judge in this case.
“I am unable to conclude that there is no merit to a possible abuse of process application.”
Ferris’ misconduct may have been the catalyst for this case being put in jeopardy, but it was the actions of Cst. Taylor and the rest of the VicPD officers assigned to Project Juliet that have botched this case through misleading the court and the accused’s defence.
As of Monday, February 12th, Justice Murray ordered that non-redacted documents be provided to Van Buskirk’s defence team that may get him off his charges.
Initially, VicPD was toting these arrests as a big win, but now the three men who faced 31 charges between them, may be able to get off because of the inadequacies of the Victoria Police Department.
“On January 19, 2024, we received information that criminal charges against the sole remaining accused in Project Juliet had been stayed,” said VicPD Chief Del Manak in a recent statement regarding this situation.
“This was an extremely complicated file, with many moving parts and a total of three investigations.”
Manak stuck up for his officers, saying every decision was made in good faith trying to get drug dealers off the streets of Victoria.
He spoke to the fact that Ferris was arrested and suspended for his corruption; however, he was never formally charged with anything.
“Our officers attempted to minimize Cst. Ferris’s involvement while maintaining the integrity of the investigation into his activities,” Manak said.
