He's been a thorne in the side of Vancouver Police for years. But today, the VPD said goodbye to one of the city's most profliic petty criminals.

Marc Sweet was put on a plane to Winnipeg, as part of Chief Jim Chu's "Con Air" program.

It allows police to send criminals with outstanding warrants in other cities back to the scene of the crime to face justice there.

Sweet has a number of warrants in Winnipeg from 2002, including assault, breaking and entering, robbery and three counts of uttering threats.

He first came to the attention of the VPD in early 2003 and since then, has had 66 contacts with the department.

As he was being led through domestic departures at YVR, flanked by two VPD officers, CTV's Shannon Paterson asked him how he felt about going back to Winnipeg.

He said, "I'll have to deal with it sometime."

When asked if Vancouver is better off without him, Sweet said, "For the time being, yeah."

Sweet's flight was paid for by the Solictor General's office, but the VPD hopes to use donated airmiles to send other criminals back in the future.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson