Cocaine Canada PM

A few days after he was elected Prime Minister of Canada
83 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of between $12 to $14 million
was found during a random search of Paul Martin's family vessel
named the "Sheila Ann" after his wife.

CANADA PM SHIPS COCAINE

The Prime Minister's Office would not discuss the drug bust, saying it was "a point of recusal."*...
No charges are expected against the crew
or Martin's shipping company which flies a foreign flag
and has moved shipbuilding from Canada to Communist China
and uses Soviet bloc sailors as crew.

Canada had a federal election last week (June 2004)** and Paul Martin won and will now stay on as Prime Minister. In a previous essay entitled AMERICA'S MORONS I described how a few months ago Paul Martin had been handed the prime ministership so that the elected, long reigning one could retire.

The new Prime Minister had previously been a political appointee, ie Finance Minister under Chretien. In his private life, before entering politics, Paul Martin came to be the owner of Canada's biggest shipping company, Canada Steamship Lines, which now flies a foreign flag (to avoid taxes) and has moved shipbuilding from Canada to Communist China and uses Soviet bloc sailors as crew.

With the election just days ago and Canada's July 1st birthday celebrations yesterday*** it's as though "the wedding baked meats doth furnish forth the funeral tables" as the Prime Minister is exposed as the proverbial Emperor With No Clothes On by his ship's bottom being bared for all the world to see. Or is he more like an ANIMAL FARM PIG stumbling around on two legs with his trotters in the air.

Drug trafficker Martin can now officially be added to Canada's list of corrupt politicians including BC's drunk-driving Premier (see DUI is DUI) and a previous Mafia connected Prime Minister (see CANADA'S MULRONEY BALONEY) and a Communist connected one too (see CANADA'S RED TRUDEAU). ~ Jackie Jura

CocaineCanadaPM

CANADA PRIME MINISTER MARTIN'S FAMILY VESSEL RAIDED FOR DRUGS
Halifax Daily News, Jul 1, 2004
(83 kilograms of cocaine were found during a random search of the vessel
with street value between $12 and $14 million)

HALIFAX -- An underwater camera is credited with what's described as the fluke discovery of an attempt to smuggle millions of dollars in cocaine on a cargo ship named after the prime minister's wife and operated by the company he once controlled. Authorities suggest organized crime is behind an attempt to transport cocaine using the Sheila Ann, a ship operated by Canada Steamship Lines, the company Prime Minister Paul Martin transferred control of to his three sons last year.

Two duffel bags stuffed with 83 kilograms of cocaine were found early Wednesday during a random search of the vessel, which was carrying coal from Venezuela to Sydney for Nova Scotia Power. The camera discovered the drugs in a grate attached to the bottom of the ship, resulting in what customs agents call a "cold hit'' _ a seizure that is essentially a fluke, neither the result of criminal intelligence nor informants. "The security is not good ... there are not enough officers in Sydney to search a vessel,'' said Susan Horne, president of the Customs Excise Union in Nova Scotia, which represents customs officers. Members from the Halifax customs office were called in to assist in the search, but since Canada Customs does not have its own divers, Horne said private scuba divers were contracted to remove the bags. Once it was determined the bags contained cocaine, the unarmed customs officers at Port of Sydney called in police. "It's for their own security,'' said Horne. ``We don't know who put those drugs on. . . . Would someone be coming to the vessel that might be trying to retrieve those drugs?''

A thorough search of the vessel followed, producing no other contraband and the Sheila Ann was allowed to leave port Wednesday evening.The RCMP reportedly estimated the street value of the cocaine at between $12 million and $14 million. Martine Malka, a spokeswoman for Canada Steamship Lines, said the packages must have been smuggled in from Maracaibo, Venezuela, the vessel's last stop before Sydney. She said four bolts holding the underwater grate to the bottom of the ship were removed sometime before the vessel docked, then replaced after the packages were hidden inside. "This cannot be done through the ship,'' Malka said. ``The only way this could have been done is by divers underwater.'' Horne agreed and said the drugs were almost certainly destined for Canada, as they would have interfered with the crew unloading coal in Sydney and would surely have been noticed. They were stuffed inside the grate where water is taken in to fill the ship's ballast for stabilization during the on- and offloading of cargo.

How the drugs made it onto the ship undetected is unclear, said Horne. "The ship's owner has committed to work to improve security for the vessel,'' she said. Michel Proulx, spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency, said it's not unusual for legitimate companies to be exploited by organized crime for the movement of contraband. Proulx said no charges were laid against the vessel or its crew. After handing over control of the company, Martin made it known he would not be involved in any dealings with it and would not be commenting on its affairs.

The Customs Excise Union says the random discovery points to a lack of marine security along Canada's coast. Customs agents search just two per cent of all the commercial and pleasure vessels that enter Nova Scotia waters each year, Horne said. Canada Steamship Lines has its headquarters in Montreal and offices in Halifax, Winnipeg, Burlington, Ont., Boston, Singapore and Sydney, Australia. Martin was appointed president in 1974 and he and a partner bought the company in 1981 for $189 million. Martin bought out his partner in 1988 to take full control. When he entered politics in the mid-1990s, he placed CSL in a blind trust, meaning he still owned the company but was isolated from its management and day-to-day operations. Last year, under pressure from opposition parties, he transferred control of the company to his three adult sons, Paul, James and David.

*definition of recusal - refusing to submit; (formerly) refusing to attend the services of the Church of England or to acknowledge the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Crown

CocaineCanadaPM

COCAINE FOUND HIDDEN ON PRIME MINISTER'S SHIP
Globe & Mail, Jul 2, 2004
(PM Martin makes no comment; no charges are expected to be laid against crew or shipping company)

To all the awkwardness that his shipping empire has brought Prime Minister Paul Martin, add the embarrassment of being a drug mule. The day after his re-election this week, Canadian customs agents discovered a stash of cocaine hidden at the bottom of a Canada Steamship Lines coal carrier, one named after Mr. Martin's wife. Drug smugglers apparently used underwater divers to plant the drug without the knowledge of the crew of the bulk cargo ship Sheila Ann during a stop in Venezuela.

The 83 kilograms of cocaine was discovered in a routine inspection after the ship arrived in Sydney, N.S. "This is the first time that this type of incident has happened on one of our ships," said Martine Malka, CSL's director of corporate communications. "Naturally, the company has zero tolerance for drugs. We'll take steps to make sure this won't happen again." She said the packages must have been concealed while the Sheila Ann was at its last port of call before Sydney: Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it picked up a load of low-sulfur coal.

No charges are expected against the crew or the shipping company. The vessel was allowed to leave Sydney.

"This is not uncommon for a legit company to be exploited by organized crime when it comes to the movement of contraband," said Michel Proulx, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency. An underwater camera spotted the cocaine. Divers were then sent in to retrieve it. The two drug packages were hidden in an underwater compartment sealed with a grate. Normally the compartment is used to allow seawater to enter to cool the vessel's engines. Whoever planted the cocaine would have had to unscrew, then replace, four bolts holding the grate, Ms. Malka said. The bolts will now be welded on CSL ships, she said. The company will also hire divers to inspect its ships when they use South American ports. Since August of 2003, control of the company has been transferred to Mr. Martin's three sons, Paul W., David and James.

It wasn't immediately clear how pure the cocaine was or how much it was worth. Evidence in recent trafficking trials show that in cities such as Montreal, a kilo of cocaine sells at the wholesale level for as much as $50,000. The shipment found on the Sheila Ann could therefore be worth several million dollars, especially since it would be adulterated before it was sold at street level. Mr. Martin's director of communications, Mario Laguë, said the Prime Minister's Office had no comment to make on the incident.

**Paul Martin Wins Minority Government. Digital Journal, Jun 28, 2004
Election Day is over at last. Paul Martin is Canada’s Prime Minister. He’s the Liberal guy. Yes, also the same one who took over for Chrétien. Jean Chrétien — he was the Prime Minister before Martin. Ah yes...For all of June the country was being saturated with election coverage...

***Thousands Celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa. CFRA-580 News, Ottawa News, Jul 1, 2004
Hundreds of thousands of people braved an afternoon thunderstorm to celebrate Canada's 137th birthday in downtown Ottawa. Events were held throughout the day across Ottawa and Gatineau, wrapping up with fireworks over Parliament Hill. Fresh off his election victory, Paul Martin flashed the thumbs-up, exchanged kisses and zig-zagged across a red carpet to shake every hand in sight. It was a jolly prime minister who strode up Parliament Hill to celebrate Canada's birthday and extol what he described as a great, but quietly patriotic people. Martin paid tribute to a culturally diverse, generous, successful nation whose arms remain wide open to newcomers from all corners of the Earth. The walk up Parliament Hill was like a victory march for a politician who days earlier was trading partisan darts with his opponents in the closest federal election in a generation.

For last year's festivities go to CANADA'S COPS UNLEASHED

DRUGS ON MARTIN-FAMILY SHIP
National Post, Jul 2, 2004
Police say neither Prime Minister nor his sons are under suspicion

International drug smugglers used a cargo ship owned by Paul Martin's three sons to transport $10-million worth of cocaine across the Atlantic. News of the cocaine bust left the family-owned company red-faced yesterday, but police were quick to dispel any suggestions that the Prime Minister's children, or any of their employees, are linked to the underground drug trade.

The Sheila Ann -- named after the Prime Minister's wife -- was docked in Nova Scotia's Port of Sydney on Wednesday morning when authorities discovered two duffel bags full of the white powder hidden inside an underwater compartment. The freighter belongs to CSL International, a sister company of Canada Steamship Lines Inc., the huge shipping empire Mr. Martin was forced to hand over to his sons last year. Authorities believe organized criminals, unbeknownst to the ship's crew, planted the 83 kilograms of cocaine inside the vessel while it was stopped in Venezuela this week. The drugs were found inside the so-called sea chest, a section of the ship where ocean water enters and cools the engine. Police believe that divers -- far away from the glare of 24-hour security cameras -- unscrewed the grille that leads to the compartment, inserted the drugs and bolted the grate back in place before the vessel left for Canada. Exactly who was supposed to retrieve the cocaine once it arrived here is now the focus of an RCMP investigation. U.S. authorities will likely be contacted, as the freighter was scheduled to stop in Florida after its stop in Sydney. "This is typical of a criminal enterprise, piggybacking on legitimate business," said Sergeant Wayne Noonan, a Nova Scotia Mountie. "We have seen this many times in the past."

The Sheila Ann, a 225-metre vessel built in 1999, was hauling a load of low-sulphur coal from Maracaibo, Venezuela, to a customer in Sydney when Canadian border agents conducted a routine examination. For reasons authorities refuse to disclose, RCMP divers were later called to the port. They discovered that the grille leading to the sea chest had been tampered with. The divers later surfaced with the two bags of coke. The ship's 29 crew members, all Ukrainian, were questioned, but by Wednesday night officials allowed them to continue their journey. None of them is expected to be charged, Sgt. Noonan said. "It's not uncommon for legitimate companies to be exploited by organized crime with the movement of contraband," said Michel Proulx, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency. "This is something that happens regularly. They use somebody else's vehicle or ship."

Martine Malka, a spokeswoman for Canada Steamship Lines, said the firm does not suspect its crew of any wrongdoing because they could not have known what was happening underwater. "That section of the boat cannot be accessed from inside the boat," she said yesterday. "Divers went under the boat, removed some bolts from that section, put the packages inside and closed up." She said although this is CSL's first cocaine bust, the company plans to beef up security, especially in parts of the world where drug cartels are widespread. In regions such as Venezuela and Colombia, where security cameras already keep constant watch on CSL vessels, divers will now conduct mandatory inspections before every boat departs. Also, the grilles that surround the underwater compartments will now be welded shut instead of simply bolted. In the meantime, Ms. Malka said, she can only hope Canadians realize the company has nothing to do with illegal activities. "It is the first time that this kind of an incident happened on one of our vessels," she said. "We have absolutely no involvement in this."

Founded more than 150 years ago, CSL is based in Montreal and has offices in Halifax, Winnipeg, Burlington, Ont., Boston, Singapore and Sydney, Australia. In 1981, seven years after he was appointed president of CSL, Mr. Martin and a partner purchased the company for $189-million. The would-be prime minister took full control in 1988 after buying out his partner's shares. When he became finance minister in the early 1990s, Mr. Martin placed his company in a blind trust, which meant he was still the sole owner but no longer involved in day-to-day operations. In August, 2003, amid calls from the Opposition, Mr. Martin relinquished full control of the $700-million shipping firm, signing over his shares to his adult sons, Paul, James and David. Nevertheless, conflict-of-interest allegations continued to follow Mr. Martin after he became Prime Minister. In February, he was forced to admit that his company received $161-million worth of federal contracts, grants and contributions over the past 11 years -- well more than the $137,000 estimate the government offered the year before.

The Prime Minister's Office would not discuss the drug bust yesterday, saying it was "a point of recusal."

NOVA SCOTIA POLICE SEIZE COCAINE ON CSL SHIP
CTV News, July 1, 2004

Police in Nova Scotia have discovered 83 kilograms of cocaine on a ship that is owned by Prime Minister Paul Martin's sons and named after Martin's wife. Cape Breton police discovered the drugs bolted to the outside of the Sheila Anne -- a registered Canadian Steam Lines vessel -- during a routine ship examination early Wednesday. Martin transferred ownership of the shipping lines to his three sons last year. The Sheila Anne had sailed to Sydney from Venezuela. At the time of the search, the ship was carrying a cargo of coal bound for Florida. The cocaine was found inside an underwater grate at the bottom of the ship, said Martine Malka, a spokeswoman for Canada Steamship Lines. "This cannot be done through the ship," Malka said. "The only way this could have been done is by divers underwater."

Michel Proulx of the Canada Border Services Agency says the drug seizure is a remarkable find and adds that organized crime groups often exploit legitimate companies to transport illegal goods. The Sheila Ann and its crew were declared free to leave Sydney late Wednesday. Canada Steamship Lines is based in Montreal and has offices in Halifax, Winnipeg, Burlington, Ont., Boston, Singapore and Sydney, Australia. Martin was appointed president of the company in 1974 and took full ownership and control in 1988. He put the company in a blind trust when he entered politics but handed it over to his sons last year amid pressure from opposition parties.


ChinaHuMartin CHINA'S CANADA PM MARTIN ADVENTURE (During a Canada-China Business Council dinner held in January, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin jubilantly exclaimed, "From British Columbia, Canada is the ideal gateway from China to North America". Martin's unmitigated support of domestic, pro-China policies allows for increased Chinese immigration and tourism in western Canada, cooperative energy exploration, increased raw materials exports, and expanded business investment....)

Reader John lives 30-miles away from where the Prime Minister's ship was busted for transporting coke back in 2004

Reader asks for news about gun- and cocaine-smuggling Canadian prime ministers (and the Bre-X scandal)

Aussie gets 20 years in Bali prison (marijuana planted in bodyboard bag). MSNBC, May 27, 2005 & Aussie's sentence to be appealed (baghandlers planted grass in Sydney). NewZealStuff, May 27, 2005. Go to 35.Brotherhood and 34.Ministry of Love & DRUG WAR & PEACE

Britons jailed for cocaine haul, BBC, Oct 27, 2004
Four Britons have each been sentenced to 20 years in jail plus hard labour in Ghana for plotting to smuggle cocaine, the Foreign Office has confirmed. The four, together with a German and a Ghanaian, were found guilty of plotting to smuggle half a tonne of cocaine into the country, Reuters said. In January, police in Ghana seized 674kg of cocaine worth $145m (£79m) found hidden behind a mirror. The men's defence lawyer said they would appeal at the "harsh" sentences...He said at the very least the judge ought to have allowed them to make a plea for mitigation."...The men will serve their sentences in Ghana because the offence was committed there. European anti-drug officials say Africa is being used more and more as a route to smuggle drugs into Europe. The prosecution said it believed the cocaine seized had come from Venezuela. January's haul was the biggest ever seizure in West Africa. Customs and Excise led the intelligence operation which resulted in the raid and a spokesman said there was evidence the cocaine was destined for the UK.

Thai's Bangwang Prison executes justice (man-eater, maximum security, death row, thousands of school children addicted). BBC, Jul 22, 2004 & Cocaine use trebles in UK (epidemic in numbers hooked especially crack which is highly addictive). Independent, Jul 18, 2004

'Cocaine ship' seized in Togo. July 8, 2004
A ship allegedly carrying more than two tons of cocaine has been seized off the coast of Ghana, French and Togolese official say. The Togolese tugboat Pitea was intercepted by a French warship and the eight crew have been arrested. The drugs, with a street value of at least $50m, allegedly came from Venezuela and was destined for Europe. South American drugs are increasingly coming via West Africa because of a crackdown in the US, officials say. In January, cocaine with a street value of some $140m was seized in neighbouring Ghana. The Pitea was boarded in a joint operation by French and Togolese officials, based on Spanish intelligence. It was towed to Togo's capital, Lome. One north American, one Ukrainian and six Venezuelans were arrested, Togolese officials say.

Nova Scotia police seize cocaine on CSL ship (owned by Prime Minister's sons, named after wife). CTV.ca, Jul 1, 2004

Paul Martin's dangerous advisor, www.lifesite.net, Dec 3, 2003
Maurice Strong has promised he will advise his friend and soon-to-be Prime Minister Paul Martin, for "free." We're tempted to say that is about what his advice is worth, but Strong's ideas are no joking matter. Strong, the senior advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, is a leading advocate of one-world global governance. He advocates a radical environmentalism that is associated with people and movements that advocate depopulating the world. He has indicated support for China's brutal one-child policy and limiting family size to protect the earth's natural resources from the encroachment of man. Lastly, he was involved in the 2002 summit to develop a one-world religion that adopts as centrepiece environmental activism and colective governance (one-world government). With advisors like Strong, Paul Martin's vaunted position as a leader from the more conservative side of the Liberal Party should be seriously questioned. Strong's views place him firmly on the left and if successfully implemented (anywhere - at the international or national level) pose a direct threat to traditional religion, national sovereignty and human life.

MAFIA DRUG LORD and DRUG WAR & PEACE and 35.The Brotherhood and 10.The Rulers and CORPORATE COMMUNISM

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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