Irish Independent July 4, 2003 Real IRA spy smuggled drugs into the US, court told  by Diarmaid Mac Dermott and Liz Walsh  FBI agent David Rupert was described at the Special Criminal  Court yesterday by a New York State trooper as a "life-long  criminal" who smuggled explosives, drugs and illegal aliens in  the US and Canada.  Eddie Hamill told the FBI in 1993 that Mr Rupert, the main  witness against alleged Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, used  bonded trucks registered in the name of others for smuggling in  the Mohawk Reservation between the US and Canada.  He described Mr Rupert (51) as "street smart" and said he set up  the criminal enterprise but let others "take the risk".  Defence counsel Mr Hugh Hartnett SC put it to Mr Rupert in the  witness box that Mr Hamill also told the FBI that he was "smooth  and bright and will do anything if he sees a profit".  "Smooth enough to spend seven years in the republican movement  and live to talk about it," Mr Rupert replied.  The witness said Mr Hamill's allegations were "pure fantasy" and  said he had never been involved in smuggling. If he had "all this  information" one would think "he'd have me arrested" he added.  Mr Rupert said his trucks were bonded. They carried cigarettes  "that came up from Miami" and the loads were "legal and  legitimate".  He repeated that he "had never been a smuggler". At that point,  Mr Hartnett asked that Mr Rupert leave the court as an issue had  arisen and he wished to make a legal application. The court will  rule on Mr Hartnett's application today.  Earlier, Mr Rupert refused to sign a form releasing details of  his tax affairs to lawyers for alleged Real IRA leader Michael  McKevitt.  Mr Rupert was repeatedly pressed by defence counsel Mr Hugh  Hartnett SC to sign a form allowing details of his dealings with  the US Internal Revenue Service to be released and he repeatedly  refused to do so.  Mr Rupert told Mr Hartnett that he had obtained advice from his  attorney and when asked to name the attorney he claimed  privilege.  He said that his stepdaughter is also an attorney and mixed in  the same circles as his attorney. It was a matter of great  concern to him because last year she received a death threat if  he testified in another trial.  When Mr Hartnett put it to him that his character was an issue in  the trial and that he had earlier portrayed himself to the court  as a man acting on his moral teachings, Mr Rupert said: "I said  that my moral issue really amounted to murder or some of the  things we spoke of here, mass murder."  Mr Rupert said he had filed tax returns for every year since  1993, except 1997, but he did not recall if he had actually paid  tax for any year before 2002.  He said in 2002 he had cleared up an IRS problem he had  accumulated over a number of years and since then he has been  current. Mr Rupert also said he was paid cash by the FBI and the  British Security Service but this had changed when the matter  became a criminal matter.  It was the 10th day of the trial of Michael Mc Kevitt (53), of  Beech Park, Blackrock, Dundalk, Co Louth, who denies membership  of and directing a terrorist movement. The trial continues today.