Project Endocrine

The Kelowna drug operation known as Project Endocrine, was personally initiated by the Attorney General of British Columbia in conjunction with the United States D.E.A. and eventually became the subject of a CBC fifth estate program. The investigation began with a preliminary investigation back in 1996 after which, the mandate of this entire drug operation became to investigate the main target "Martin" and his business.
see-fifth estate story

The RCMP then provided false evidence implicating my brother Steve Ambrose as being a co-director and co-owner of Martin's business. During this drug investigation a home invasion occurred at the Ambrose residence with the perpetrators claiming to be the RCMP on a proceeds of crime investigation. The files released by the RCMP from this drug case disclosed that there actually was an RCMP Proceeds of Crime Investigation naming my brother Steve Ambrose, just like the home invaders had stated.
see- home invasion

The Kelowna RCMP paid out a huge sum of money to a long time cocaine dealer to inform on the Martin's and their marijuana operation in Sicamous B.C. What no one knew at the time was that Don Martin had been living in Mindy Tran's neighborhood and had seen Shannon Murrin carrying a suitcase past his house on the night of her abduction. He had even given a statement to the police investigators. Don Martin was the owner operator of a janitorial service in Kelowna at the time. Whatever transpired to lure him into drug activity is unknown but it is known that the RCMP had him under surveillance during the whole time that this took place. Wire taps were authorized during the Tran investigation but concealed under National Security". The RCMP watched and listened for years as their own informants supplied drugs to and helped set up the Martin's as a big operation. Martin was arrested on drug charges under the threat of extradition to the U.S. just as Shannon Murrin was to go to trial. Don Martin never testified against Murrin and his lawyer later plea bargained for two years house arrest. The Kelowna RCMP informant handling division was heavily involved in this drug case including several of the same investigators from the Mindy Tran investigation.

The highly paid Sicamous cocaine dealer turned informant claimed in court that the police had looked the other way for about ten years while he was dealing in cocaine. Even though this dealer had extensive connections, including with "B", and had intimate knowledge of the cocaine trade, there was no police investigation of his cocaine connections or activities. He was paid over a half million dollars by the RCMP supposedly to provide information on the Martin's but at the same time, he was also asking questions about my brothers and myself and providing information about the home invasion to the RCMP. Information relating to the home invasion was obtained from several sources including from the files of this drug investigation which confirmed the sequence of events and the players involved. Why the RCMP would pay a cocaine dealer over half a million dollars to inform on Martin is telling. Many other witnesses had also been obstructed by various means during the Tran investigation.
see- witness stories

My brother Steve is also mentioned in the RCMP affidavit for a wire tap authorization in this case. The 5th estate program disclosed that authorities continued to listen to phone conversations long after the authorization had expired. The wire tap affidavit falsely claimed that my brother Steve Ambrose was a director of Martin's business, the business that the RCMP had under investigation for drug activity.

This then became the RCMP's suspected motive for the home invasion. The RCMP member who supplied this false evidence in his wire tap application affidavit is Ron Griffiths of the Kelowna RCMP. This is the same RCMP member involved in the vehicle search in the Tran case. I had spoken of my intentions to become a witness in the Tran case over the phone from my brother Steve's residence just prior to the home invasion.
see- home invasion

There are people In the Project Endocrine documents who are shown to be involved in drug activities and who are directly connected to the home invasion suspects. One of the people in this case is Tidsbury's Sicamous informant, (suspect "B") It was said in 1975 that a rookie drug cop in Sicamous identified as Carl Busson, was being groomed to take over the entire drug unit. Suspect "B", moved to Sicamous shortly afterwards and later in his capacity as an RCMP sanctioned drug dealer/informant, used to report to his associates that he was being tailed by the infamous drug investigator, Carl Busson. Carl is now the B.C. RCMP Superintendent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Branch.

Gary Tidsbury's brother Blake, a former RCMP member was found to be living in Sicamous only one block away from where the home invasion took place in 1999. Blake Tidsbury had arrested Martin in the past after which he left the RCMP to become the director of operations for the house boat business owned by the family of Martin's then partner. Gary Tidsbury's past informant, suspect "B", who lived across the street from where Mindy Tran's body was found in 1994, had moved back to Sicamous for the start of the Project Endocrine drug investigation. Suspect "B" is shown in the drug investigation files to have been supplying drugs to Martin, which are then confiscated in a drug bust. Suspect "B" then threatens Martin with a gun to pressure him into further drug activities in order to pay off his debt, all while the RCMP have him under surveillance. Suspect "B" is never charged or even investigated for any of his activities. These events provided the basis to authorize the use of informant/agents.

Project Endocrine has served as a means to justify an investigation and surveillance which obstructed two witnesses from testifying in the Tran murder case. RCMP member R.J. Griffiths has been involved in all aspects of the investigation going as far back as January 1995. He was photographed searching for suspicious vehicles identified by the Tran investigation in 1994. The original suspect vehicle was parked for sale in front of Steve Ambrose's residence at the time of a home invasion. Griffiths is then involved in a series of events which leads to an investigation, surveillance, and wire taps. Within weeks of divulging that I intended to become a witness in the Tran case, a home invasion is perpetrated by people claiming to be the RCMP with inside knowledge of a confidential RCMP operation. Death threats were delivered specifically to not even think of “ratting” on anyone. Griffiths then provides false evidence to justify a drug investigation into the home invasion victims in a manner so as to make the home invasion appear to have been drug related. The RCMP have been informed of these allegations concerning their members and have been made aware of the evidence.

This information has been disclosed to the attorneys for the persons charged with drug offences resulting from Project Endocrine. So far, the crown, the defense, and the judge appear satisfied to allow the false evidence contained in the wire tap affidavit to proceed through the system as a mere mistake. I strongly object and believe that this is evidence of obstruction of justice in the Tran murder investigation as well as fraudulent evidence presented in this drug case. This appears to have been a deliberate action on the part of R.J. Griffiths and the Kelowna RCMP to provide a drug related motive for the home invasion in which my life was being threatened, the life of a witness that the RCMP were previously searching for in the Tran murder case. The people threatening my life appear to be acting as agents of, and protected by this RCMP drug investigation.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Bev Busson, has publicly stated that there was no wrong doing on the part of the RCMP to warrant any code of conduct investigation into Sgt. Tidsbury's actions. My question is, was she aware of Murrin's status as an agent of Sgt. Tidsbury's at the time that she said this? Is she aware that other members of Sgt. Tidsbury's informant network are involved in threatening the life of a witness in the Tran murder case? Is she aware that the RCMP have falsified evidence to make this home invasion appear to be drug related.

Suspect "B" is able to confirm the identity of the agents who are responsible for the home invasion and by doing so, can confirm the identity of those who have instigated and condoned it. Suspect B can confirm Gary Tidsbury's previous where-abouts and activities. Bev Busson, the RCMP Deputy Commissioner was reported to have moved to Haug Avenue in Kelowna at the same time that suspect B also moved into the same Kelowna neighborhood in 1988.

Bev Busson can confirm the status and identity of their informants from Carl Busson (her ex husband) the newly appointed Superintendant of the Drug Enforcement Branch. The Busson's can either solve these crimes or identify themselves as being part of the problem.

These informants could be used to solve very serious crimes like the murder of a child and a home invasion. What are they being saved for? What greater purpose can they serve? The RCMP have the information, the evidence, the resources, and the ability to solve both of these crimes and charge those involved. If Bev Busson claims that she had not been informed of this information before, she has been now.

Additional information and evidence of these crimes was hand delivered to the Surrey RCMP. The RCMP did absolutely no follow up and did not even request the address to where Mindy Tran's murder suspect had been seen going to. It only became known later that, the Superintendent in charge of Kelowna at the time of Mindy's murder investigation had since been appointed as the superintendent in charge of Surrey.
www.surreyrcmp

This RCMP marijuana investigation has not only been given priority over solving the murder of Mindy Tran, it has also served as the means by which two witnesses were obstructed from testifying. The assault on one witness occurred during a home invasion perpetrated by people claiming to be the RCMP all while the residence was under investigation as part of this RCMP drug operation. The RCMP had the tools, the funding, informants, wire taps, etc, all in place and at their disposal in order to either solve or to facilitate this crime. The same informants providing information in this drug investigation were known associates of the persons committing the home invasion. Information from these sources could have been used to solve the home invasion, arrest the suspects, and assist a witness to provide testimony against a child killer. Instead, the RCMP supplied false evidence to make this home invasion appear to be drug related.

Pat Roberts: was another one of the persons charged with drug offences resulting from the drug investigation project endocrine. His lawyer asked for disclosure regarding the Tran investigation, suspect "B", and the home invasion at the Ambrose residence.
This is what happened to Roberts afterwards.
see Paddy Roberts Story:
Roberts attorney was later found dead of an apparent suicide and charges against Roberts stayed.

The following are excerpts from the actual RCMP investigation documents.

Project Endocrine: Officially began in 1996.

Cst. Griffiths disclosed that he was involved since 1996.

Both Martin and his business were the targets of this investigation.

Cst. Griffiths provides this completely false information in his affidavit for a wire tap, claiming that Steve Ambrose was a director of the business that was owned by Martin the "official" target of project endocrine and which was also under drug investigation. This is an official title search and the results have been deliberately falsified. There is no way to come up with these results by accident. Several attorneys have duplicated this search and in all cases there was no such record and never has been any such records.

Wire taps were authorized for use where ever Martin goes. "Selective monitoring."

RCMP Sgt. Schaal is actively involved as the handler of informants in this drug investigation, at the same time that he is supposed to be investigating the home invasion.

A Sgt. Webb, believed to be Gary Tidsbury's personal assistant from the Tran case, is involved in brokering a deal which paid a Sicamous informant $790,000.00 . Const. Hoffman, an investigator working for Tidsbury in the Tran case was one of his handlers. Informants were authorized to provide information on "drug targets" This informant was found to have been asking questions concerning the Ambrose family.

This Sicamous informant was also the local cocaine dealer and was paid a huge amount of money, apparently just to provide information on a marijuana dealer?

I have solicited a written response from the RCMP to specific allegations concerning their members. The responding member is Sgt. Gfellner. He provides the excuses for his members but avoids responding to why the invasion suspects are also RCMP informants. There is no mention of the RCMP Investigation, Project Endocrine in his response. Mr. Gfellner is a senior member of the Kelowna RCMP and should know which of their informants are involved in which crimes and why. The Endocrine documents identify associates of the home invasion suspects and disclose them as being under surveillance at the time of the home invasion. A legitimate drug operation does not require falsifying evidence to implicate the target. I am not satisfied with the response from Kelowna. The home invasion investigation was taken over by Greg Schaigic who was also involved in the Tran investigation.

In response, I have no personal vendetta against any of these officers. I was only soliciting a written explanation for their actions. I believe that the local Sicamous RCMP members were acting on orders and that they were led to believe that this was a drug related home invasion based on evidence that was being supplied to them, namely that my brother Steve was the owner or director of the "drug related" business that they were already investigating. These RCMP members are probably not accustomed to being supplied false evidence from their superiors.

The RCMP stated that they would investigate allegations that contained sufficient factual information, however when evidence of this was supplied to them, the RCMP would no longer respond to me. No one has answered as to how the invasion suspects knew of this undercover proceeds of crime operation just after being in custody of an RCMP member involved with this Proceeds of Crime investigation. No one answers as to why false evidence is being provided to implicate my brother in this proceeds of crime investigation. It is more than suspicious when Gary Tidsbury's informants and several of his Mindy Tran murder investigators are involved. This file was last confirmed as being sent by the Surrey RCMP to a Kelowna Supervisor identified as "Sam McLeod."

A trial was finally held in the case of Colin Martin. The RCMP were questioned about Shannon Murrin's informant status.
See- Updates