Officer charged in cocaine bust

15 kilograms found in house Constable linked to ex-Argo’s case

A Peel police officer has been charged with drug trafficking and other related offences involving cocaine with a street value of more than $ 500,000.

Const. Sheldon Cook, 38, was arrested by RCMP officers at his residence on Friday night where it’s alleged 15 kilograms of cocaine were found hidden in a storage area.

Neither the RCMP nor Peel police would comment on the arrest, but sources said the 14year veteran police officer had been in charge of guarding the drugs when they disappeared from a Peel police station in Mississauga last Wednesday.

Peel police would only confirm the officer was assigned to 12 Division. Cook has been involved since March 2004 in a separate case in Brampton. A former Toronto Argonaut linebacker is accused of cocaine possession and assaulting Cook and his partner, Const. Grant Gervais.

Oreth (Orlando) Bowen, 30, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming the two undercover officers planted the drugs on him on the night of March 26, 2004, in the parking lot of the Locomotion strip club on Eglinton Ave. E. and Dixie Rd. in Mississauga. The Crown alleges that Bowen, who played four years in the Canadian Football League, dropped a tiny bag of cocaine containing 1.7 grams when he was arrested by the two Peel officers and then assaulted them with fists and an elbow while trying to escape.

Defence counsel David Humphrey contends Bowen was searched without cause and assaulted by the officers who planted the cocaine to justify their actions that night.

At the trial, Cook testified he saw Bowen drop the drug package to the ground. He said he was concerned after seeing a tire iron and rubber mask in the rear seat of the former football player’s car because there had been a recent string of massage parlour robberies using disguises.

Police photographs entered at the trial showed only a child’s car seat in the back of the car.

Justice Ford Clements is expected to render his decision on that trial on Jan. 31. Cook made a brief appearance Saturday in a Brampton courtroom where he was released on $ 5,000 bail with no deposit on a number of conditions, including not to possess any firearms or consume or possess any illegal drugs. He was also ordered to turn over his passport. He has been charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and breach of trust. He is slated to return to court Jan. 6.