In 1983, five people were arrested and accused of being part of a group called Direct Action, which had carried out several actions in Canada in 1982, including the bombing of an electrical substation and the bombing of a factory belonging to the American defense contractor Litton Industries[1]. In the weeks prior to their arrest, they were planning to rob a guard of the cash handling company Brink's.
The main evidence in the case came from conversations recorded by microphones hidden in the group members' homes.
After several trials from 1983 to 1986[2], the five people were sentenced to prison, with sentences ranging from ten years to life imprisonment. By 1990, all of them had been released on parole.
Techniques used
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Covert house visit | After overhearing (presumably during a physical surveillance operation) that four members of Direct Action who lived together in a house were leaving the house for two days to go camping, investigators conducted two covert visits of the house over those two days[1]:
| |
| Covert surveillance devices | ||
| Audio | Investigators installed hidden microphones[1]:
One day, after overhearing (presumably during a physical surveillance operation) that a member of Direct Action and his girlfriend were planning to have lunch at a cafe later in the day, investigators, with the cooperation of the cafe owner, quickly took the following steps:
| |
| Forensics | ||
| Linguistics | Investigators noticed linguistic similarities between action claims published by Direct Action and articles in a local quarterly publication called Resistance[1]. This led them to identify a contributor to Resistance, who was a friend of members of Direct Action, and place her under physical surveillance. | |
| House raid | In a raid on the house where four members of Direct Action lived, investigators found[2]:
| |
| Mass surveillance | ||
| Civilian snitches | Several civilians helped investigators[1]. In particular:
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| Physical surveillance | ||
| Aerial | After investigators discovered the remote area where members of Direct Action hid the stolen explosives they used in bombings, they arranged for a helicopter to fly over the area daily for surveillance purposes[1]. | |
| Covert | For several weeks, investigators followed members of Direct Action and some of their friends as they moved on foot and in vehicles[1]. On at least one occasion, investigators witnessed a member of Direct Action conducting anti-surveillance maneuvers, which they found suspicious. | |