Saturday, May 06

ANDREW MITROVICA
The Globe and Mail; With a report from the Associated Press
Saturday, May 6, 2000

Toronto -- An Ontario man who helped crack a major people-smuggling ring says his life is in danger and he has gone into hiding because U.S. authorities have failed to protect him.

"I have been left out in the cold. I'm totally on my own without any protection," the man, who requested anonymity, said yesterday.

The informant said he was particularly distressed that U.S authorities did not inform him that three people -- including two Canadians -- charged in Detroit earlier this week in connection with a plot to smuggle Chinese migrants into the United States may soon be freed on bond. Lawyers for the two Canadians said yesterday their clients have no criminal records and run legitimate businesses in Canada.

"I'm Salman Rushdie without protection," the informant said. "When it [the U.S. investigation] was over, they suggested that I sell my house and take a long vacation."

However, a U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman said she was unaware that the informant feared for his life and insisted that U.S. authorities are prepared to provide him with protection.

"This is news to me. I don't think we are aware that he is so frightened," Jannie Andrus, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Justice Department, said yesterday.

"If there has been some sort of threat . . . he needs to call the agents he worked with or us [the U.S. Justice Department] immediately," Ms. Andrus said.

She added, however, that the informant may have placed his life in jeopardy by speaking to The Globe and Mail about his pivotal role in the smuggling probe, code-named Operation Squeeze Play.

"This informant has revealed his own identity by [speaking] to the press," she said. "He has been very eager to speak with you."

The informant angrily denied this, insisting U.S. authorities exposed his identity when they released an eight-page indictment on Tuesday that described him as a "co-operating individual" who travelled to China to meet with the alleged leaders of the smuggling ring.

The indictment went on to explain that the "co-operating individual" made videotapes of the ringleaders encouraging U.S. immigration officers to assist them in their lucrative smuggling scheme.

"They are full of it. I was never told that was going to happen. They hung me out to dry," the informant said. "The problem is the indictments said the informant went over to China and made tapes. So, it pretty well told the Chinese that I was doing it all along."

Ms. Andrus acknowledged that some of the suspects implicated in the migrant smuggling scheme "may be able to identify" the informant by reading the indictment. But, she added, the U.S. Justice Department "would never put anyone's life in danger."

The informant said he became involved with the U.S. sting operation five months ago after he was approached by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

"They approached me because there are places in the world where Americans can't go in," he said.

He said he travelled to Beijing and Fujian province three times, at his own expense, to meet and videotape Chinese officials who allegedly orchestrated the smuggling operation.

"I have never received a penny from them [the INS]," he said.

The informant said the videotapes revealed that senior Chinese officials in Fujian province, including politicians, police and an army general, are intimately involved in the smuggling operations.

The probe led to the indictment of six people on charges of conspiring to smuggle aliens from China by bribing a U.S. undercover agent who posed as a corrupt immigration official.