A suspected criminal is back in Winnipeg, after spending almost six years in B.C. He could have stayed in that province indefinitely, but B.C. tax-payers paid for his ticket home. It is part of  a Vancouver police program named after the Nicholas Cage movie, 'Con Air'.

The program was created to get some repeat offenders out of their province.

"If you commit serious crimes anywhere in this country and come to Vancouver, then prepare yourself because we're quite inclined to send you back," said Sgt. Ruben Sorge of the Vancouver Police Dept.

Con Air uses tax dollars to kick suspected criminals out of their province and make them someone else's problem. There is even talk of asking citizens to donate their air miles to fly the accused out of province.

And in this case, the problem offender, Marc Sweet, is now in the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

CTV Crimewatch reporter Kelly Dehn caught up with Sweet behind the bars of the Remand Centre, where Sweet faces criminal charges of robbery and break-and-enter.

"I was costing them a lot more money supporting my drug habit than it was shipping me back and dealing with these charges," he said.

Sweet was a problem for Vancouver police for years.

Police arrested the Winnipeg man 66 times over the past few years, mainly for theft.

Sweet says he would steal a couple of hundred dollars every day to support his drug habit.

Vancouver police kicked Sweet out

Vancouver police finally found out that he was a wanted criminal in Winnipeg - so they kicked him out.

Sweet himself says getting kicked out of Vancouver probably saved his life, because his life was spiraling out of on control in Vancouver's Upper East Side.

"It was better for B.C., and better for me," he said. "I'm going to kill myself out there."

In Winnipeg, it is estimated that at any given time there are 10,000 people here wanted on outstanding warrants; many of them are from other parts of the country.

However, the Winnipeg Police Service said there is no plan to start sending out-of-province violators home on our dime.

"We spend enough time dealing with people wanted on our own warrants," said police spokesperson Sgt. Kelly Dennison. "We're going to deal with that first and foremost."

As for Marc Sweet, he told Kelly Dehn he wants to stay here and deal with his charges, and has no intention of returning to Vancouver.

With a report from CTV's Kelly Dehn