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In the 1960s, the name Abe Snidanko sent chills up the spine of every hippie in Vancouver. Snidanko worked undercover with the RCMP drug squad, and busted numerous longhairs for pot and other drugs.

Snidanko’s fame went international when former Vancouverite Tommy Chong used him as the inspiration for Sgt. Stadanko, the opening track on Cheech and Chong’s 1973 comedy album Los Cochinos.

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The fictional Sgt. Stadanko also appeared in the Cheech and Chong films Up in Smoke and Nice Dreams. But what the real Sgt. Snidanko thought about his fictional counterpart is unknown — he declined interviews.

Snidanko died Aug. 2 at his home in Richmond, two months shy of his 80th birthday.

“He had renal failure, heart (failure), everything just shut down,” said his son Ryan. “But he did pass away very peacefully. He was home, he didn’t want to go to the hospital. He was very stubborn that way.”

Adrian Snidanko was born in Smokey Lake, Alta., and grew up in Edmonton, where he was a Golden Gloves boxer. He joined the Mounties when he was 18 and was posted to B.C., initially in Penticton and then in Vancouver.