Mountie says he suggested meeting

Arrest on plane posed dangers, Meng trial hears

The Mountie who says he warned against arresting Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou by boarding her plane when it landed in Vancouver says he made his own decision to go into the airport and help that day.

Sgt. Ross Lundie agreed under cross-examination at a B.C. Supreme Court hearing Friday that the Mounties making the arrest in December 2018 did not ask him to be present that day. But he said when the arresting officers called him the night before the incident asking for advice, he suggested they arrange a meeting with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials for the next morning and decided he would attend.

“It was obviously very important from what I'd heard,” Lundie testified.

“Were you concerned that by asserting yourself, that would assist in avoiding some kind of major problem between CBSA and RCMP?” Meng's lawyer, Richard Peck, asked.

“I wanted to ensure that went smoothly as well, yes,” Lundie testified.

Lundie, an officer with national security experience based at the airport, said he believed it was important to keep the CBSA in the loop because he understood they had their own mandate and responsibilities.

His testimony is part of an evidence-gathering hearing in Meng's extradition case where her lawyers are trying to bolster their allegations that Canadian officials improperly collected evidence against her. Meng is wanted on fraud charges in the U.S. that both she and Huawei deny.

Meng's lawyers allege that an early plan to arrest her on board the plane was changed to allow for a “covert criminal investigation” under the guise of a routine immigration exam at the behest of U.S. authorities. Ultimately, Meng would undergo screening by border officers for nearly three hours before she was informed of her arrest and right to counsel.

Border officers working at the airport that day have testified they had their own concerns about Meng's admissibility to Canada, and deny the allegations made by her lawyers.

Lundie told the court that he always discourages his officers from conducting arrests on board flights unless there is an immediate public safety concern.

Meng didn't pose any risk to his knowledge, he said, but planes are tight spaces and there can be dangers. It's safer to conduct an arrest at the gate, in the border screening area or elsewhere, he said.

Lundie testified the arresting officers phoned him the night before the arrest while they were driving to the airport to confirm if Meng would be on the flight. That's when he learned of the plan to board the plane, he said.

Peck suggested that couldn't be. Phone records show that the arresting officers' boss, Sgt. Janice Vander Graaf, phoned them later that night after speaking with her own superior, whom court has heard was the source of the plane-arrest plan.