Two of five accused men receive bail

Two of the men arrested following an undercover operation executed by the Yukon RCMP drug section have been released on bail while three others remain behind bars.

Two of the men arrested following an undercover operation executed by the Yukon RCMP drug section have been released on bail while three others remain behind bars.

Ryan Derkson, 26, and Jesse Ritchie, 33, were both granted bail this morning by territorial court Judge John Faulkner.

According to comments made during Thursday’s bail hearing by the men’s lawyer, the two were not the original targets of a three-month-long sting operation aimed at the territory’s top purveyors of cocaine.

The bulk of the information gathered during the sting – dubbed Project Macer – was provided by a police informant, a drug dealer who started working for the RCMP after his arrest in the early summer.

According to the Crown’s summary of the case against Ritchie and Derkson, the two men did not usually work with the informant, but communicated with that person about setting up a drug deal.

Police allege that John “Yada” Vanderheide, 37, of Surrey, B.C.; Liam Leslie, 33, of Whitehorse; and Shaun “Duke” Naidu, 28, also of Whitehorse, are all members of what is known as “The Surrey Group” and are responsible for much of the drug trade in the capital.

Project Macer was aimed at cracking their operation, police said.

But when Derkson and Ritchie started communicating with the informant, they were necessarily caught up in the bust.

Ritchie was arrested Sept. 24   along with the alleged members of the Surrey Group, while Derkson was taken into custody on Tuesday night as he arrived at the Whitehorse airport.

He willingly turned himself in, Derkson’s lawyer told the judge during arguments for the men’s release.

Both are charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Defence lawyer Daniel Geller tried to convince the judge that the Crown has no proof of such a conspiracy, and questioned the reliability of evidence from a drug dealer-turned-stool pigeon.

This morning, Judge Faulkner refuted Geller’s arguments.

“The police would be unlikely to recruit an Order of Canada recipient for the job (of informant),” he said. “... I don’t find the Crown’s case quite so thin as Mr. Geller has.”

The allegations against the men “indicate some degree of ambition,” in the drug world, Faulkner said, adding he needed more assurance they would not commit any crimes if released.

That assurance comes in the form of a $20,000 surety for each man. The money must be paid up front, in cash or by collateral.

The two men may not possess cell phones nor any other mobile communications devices.

They may not communicate with each other nor any of the other men accused in connection with the case,  and they may not go to each other’s workplaces.

“The police will undoubtedly be watching for the slightest slip,” Faulkner warned as six officers from the drug section sat at the back of the courtroom watching the proceedings. 

He also told the men they cannot be represented by the same lawyer.

Finally, Faulkner said he would take personal jurisdiction over the release order, meaning if it is broken, the men will have to answer to him.

Naidu also applied for bail Thursday.

The Crown’s case against the man is “formidable,” the judge said, and his case is aggravated by the fact Naidu was on probation during the course of the alleged crimes and at the time of his arrest.

His application was denied.