The Crown has closed its case after calling its only witness at the trial of Robert Allen, a Hells Angels member charged with trafficking cocaine.
Allen, 36, was arrested in connection with Project Forseti, the Saskatoon Police Service’s 15-month long drug and gun investigation targeting the Fallen Saints and Hells Angels motorcycle clubs.
Police hired Noel Harder, a former Saskatoon drug dealer, to work as a police agent as part of Project Forseti. The focus of the investigation was on organized crime; four or five Hells Angels members were included among the list of “targets,” Harder testified Wednesday.
The police agent had been on the stand at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench since the trial began Monday (link is external). He was cross-examined Wednesday morning.
Allen’s lawyer, Morris Bodnar, asked Harder why it took nine months for him to negotiate a cocaine deal that never went through. Harder said it was delayed when Allen’s transportation person disappeared.
He told Bodnar that he contacted Allen numerous times to facilitate the deal, but Bodnar said his client was constantly “putting Harder off.” The men successfully met up to discuss the plan just as many times, Harder replied.
Those conversations between Allen and Harder were secretly recorded once Harder officially became a police agent in September 2014. Harder testified that the men used code language and hand signals to discuss the deal (link is external)to bring in a kilogram of cocaine from Ontario because Allen thought he was under police surveillance.
Harder said Allen approached him and offered to get him cocaine at a cheaper price from two Hells Angels associates in Ontario. The deal included Allen getting a $5,000 cut from every kilogram sold, Harder testified earlier in the week.
Bodnar called Allen as a witness when testimony resumed Wednesday afternoon.
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