The conspiracy trial of Jarrod Bacon and co-accused Wayne Scott began Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, but evidence will not be presented until at least next week.
In the meantime, lawyers from both sides are arguing over legal issues, including whether certain wiretap evidence obtained by police should be admissible.
Bacon and Scott have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance stemming from an undercover police sting, called E-Pintle, that targeted members of the Red Scorpions and UN gangs.
Police allege that Bacon, 28, and Scott, in his 50s, were working with the Red Scorpions at the time of their arrests in November 2009.
E-Pintle involved a team of undercover officers posing as criminals who could import $3 million of cocaine from Mexico to the Lower Mainland. Police allege the two gangs each deposited $100,000 with the undercover operators in exchange for bringing in 100 kilograms of cocaine.
Bacon and Scott were arrested in Abbotsford, as were alleged UN Gang members Nicholas Christopher Wester, 32, and Daryl Robert Johnson, 33.
Douglas Edward Vanalstine, 51, who police said was the UN leader at the time, was arrested in the Okanagan.
The trial for Wester, Johnson and Vanalstine – all charged with conspiracy and possession for the purpose of trafficking – is scheduled to begin June 11, 2012 in Vancouver.