Only half of the officers suspected of criminal activities in Canada's largest police corruption probe in history will face a criminal trial, according to a final report about the internal investigation. 

That is despite original recommendations to lay 218 charges against a dozen officers.

Just six officers from a single drug team were charged with 22 counts at the end of a lengthy probe in January 2004, according to the report, which has been seen by the CBC.  

The trials are to begin in 2008 and all six deny wrongdoing and have pleaded not guilty. Another six officers face internal disciplinary charges. 

The internal investigation by a 25-member special task force was headed by then Chief-Supt. John Neily of the RCMP and was assigned to look into corruption allegations against the officers in the now-defunct Central Field Command drug squad Team 3. 

Neily referred a total of 218 charges against 12 officers to the Crown Law Office, he says in his final report, which he prepared in 2004 for then Toronto police chief Julian Fantino. 

But prosecutors recommended charging only six officers with 22 counts and naming four as unindicted co-conspirators, the report says, because only those had a "reasonable prospect of conviction."

The Crown suggested as a "rule of thumb" that no more than seven be tried on one indictment of conspiracy, due to the logistics of trying too many people at a time, the report says. 

During the probe, cases were set aside "regularly" because of, in part, a major hurdle the task force was aware of early on: proving allegations in court with witnesses of "questionable or unsavoury character" who were members of the drug underworld.

In his report, Neily states that allegations that were not pursued include:

• Officers paid informants with drugs seized in busts, such as cocaine and heroin.
• A pound of cocaine was stolen from a suspect.
• Officers stole a large quantity of drugs and weapons, then sold back to other criminals.

The report also confirms that two other teams of drug officers were not fully investigated as they were outside of Neily's task force mandate. (One of those teams was accused of stealing drug money during searches of bank safety deposit boxes; the other was accused of using cocaine from police seizures).

The report also reveals that there were 47 separate complaints accusing the drug officers of stealing valuables from 1997 to mid-1999 — all from people who didn't know each other and had been searched or arrested by the Central Field Command drug squad. 

Forensic accountants examining the bank accounts of suspect officers found unexplained sources of income over several years, according to the report.  

Suspect officers allegedly "on or shortly after the dates of alleged thefts, booked a trip, made large asset purchases, made cash payments towards their credit cards or loans, made cash deposits … and/or had transactions related to gambling," the report says. 

One officer deposited more than $186,000 into his bank while with the drug squad, with auditors unable to find legitimate sources for the money, the report states. 

In the report's conclusion, however, Neily notes that he thinks the Toronto Police Service is "one of the best police services in the country" if not the world, but like all organizations employs human beings. 

The report's conclusion also seems to suggest there is no need for further investigation except for those cases that might arise from the trials. 

"Just how many times do you have to charge another police officer with attempt to obstruct justice, perjury or deceit in order to get your point across?" the report asks. 

However, Edward Sapiano, a defence lawyer whose client's complaint of theft sparked the task force investigation is calling for a public inquiry to get to the bottom of the remaining allegations. 

"What this document reveals is very serious ongoing organized criminal activity in the heart and soul of the largest police service in this country," he said.  

But he added that he understands pursuing only the strongest cases was a realistic decision, since large unmanageable cases are more likely to collapse. 

"The discrepancy [in the number of charges not being prosecuted] is sizable, but frankly, I see the logic in it," Sapiano said. "The world is a practical place, has to be a practical place.… That's something I can live with provided those charges that are pursued are pursued vigorously and sincerely." 

The task force cost the Toronto Police Service about $4 million and the RCMP about $1.2 million as of 2005, the report says. An estimated $2 million more has been spent since then as the task force aids in the prosecution slated for trial in 2008. 

Two previous internal probes had unearthed allegations of criminal activity in Toronto drug squads dating back to the early 1990s, but fell short of pursuing charges because of a lack of resources and limited scope, according to the report.