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OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada says two Quebec men charged with drug and weapons trafficking will have to stand trial again.

In a 6-1 decision today, the high court upheld a 2012 Quebec Court of Appeal decision ordering a new trial for Antal Babos and Sergio Piccirilli.

The two were arrested in 2006 during an RCMP-Quebec provincial police operation aimed at stopping drug and weapons trafficking.

Their trial ended with a stay of proceedings in November 2008 after the judge determined the Crown and police had abused their powers.

One of the accused said a prosecutor tried to intimidate them into pleading guilty by threatening to add more charges.

The other accused alleged that two police officers colluded to mislead the court about the circumstances surrounding a firearm seizure. And a third complaint involved the Crown gaining access to the medical files of one of the accused in an irregular manner.

The two men were appealing the new trial ordered by Quebec’s highest court.

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