Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using police database to help Rwanda

An Alberta Mountie subjected to a major RCMP investigation and surveillance after being suspected of using a police database to help Rwanda was found not guilty Friday of several charges.

Const. Eli Ndatuje, 39, was arrested following an extensive investigation dubbed "Operation Salt Mine," involving wiretaps and up to 30 officers and civilian staffers.

Ndatuje admitted to using the database to check up on a missing person but said he didn’t pass the information on.

He called it a dumb move but said he wasn't a spy or a traitor.

"In hindsight it was not a good look but it was purely out of concern for the missing person," he said in an RCMP interrogation that was played at his trial.

"It was kind of just like how dumb can you be? I wasn't thinking and afterward in my mind I was like, yeah, this looks really bad but at the same time at least it's really clear."

Court of King's Bench Justice Jason Wilkins agreed.

"The effort put into that investigation was not lacking, but the resulting evidence is," he said Friday.

However, the judge said it's clear why the RCMP would do a thorough investigation: "In recent years, Canada has seen a significant increase in the frequencies, sophistication and illegality of foreign interference.

"The government of Canada is compelled to respond."

Ndatuje faced three charges — under the Criminal Code and the Security of Information Act — for the alleged illegal use of the database to assist the High Commission of Rwanda in Ottawa.

Wilkins said the trial heard that his use of the police computer system was noted by a supervisor in Red Deer, dealt with by a note on his file and it should have been concluded there.

"In hindsight, though actioning the call from the embassy wasn't perfect but I find his actions were not nefarious," the judge said.

At trial, court heard Ndatuje and his family fled war-torn Uganda and moved to Ottawa when he was a teen.

He was arrested in February 2024 by the RCMP's federal policing team. It identified Rwanda as the alleged "foreign actor" in the case.

Ndatuje’s lawyer, Robb Beeman, told the trial that his client had been in touch twice with the Rwandan High Commission, and both times were for innocent purposes.

The first time, Beeman said, was in April 2022. He said it was for Ndatuje to clear up confusion over his wife's travel documents.

On the second occasion, the lawyer said, Ndatuje was contacted by a friend at the Rwandan High Commission who was worried about the disappearance of a housekeeper working at the Ottawa residence of the Rwandan ambassador.

Ndatuje, on his own initiative, checked the police database to see if anyone had reported the housekeeper missing, court heard. There was no record of the housekeeper being missing, and the employee was later found unharmed.

"(Ndatuje) did the search because he cared about a missing person," Beeman told the trial.

"One would hope that every police officer in this country would share that attitude."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2026.

By Bill Graveland | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.