cannabisnews.com: Police Raids in B.C. Linked To Drug Investigation 





Police Raids in B.C. Linked To Drug Investigation 
Posted by CN Staff on December 29, 2003 at 18:34:06 PT
By CBC News Online Staff
Source: CBC
Victoria -- Two political assistants have been removed from their jobs in British Columbia, less than 24 hours after police raided their offices in the provincial legislature. The potentially scandalous investigation erupted into the open on Sunday when police raided the two offices inside the B.C. legislature in connection with a drug investigation. Now there is speculation the 20-month investigation could lead well beyond Victoria. 
B.C.'s biggest cash crop - marijuana - lies at the heart of this latest scandal. Now, questions are being asked after it was learned that some of Prime Minister Paul Martin's most active supporters in B.C. were the targets of the dramatic police raids. On Sunday morning, in the middle of the holidays, the RCMP and the Victoria police struck, carting off hundreds of files from the B.C. legislature. Those files came from the offices of two ministerial staffers. One staffer is David Basi, a top aide to B.C. Finance Minister Gary Collins and a senior activist for the Paul Martin campaign. The other is Bob Virk, another Martin activist who's an aide to B.C. Transportation Minister Judith Reid. The raid at the legislature was followed by more in Vancouver and other locations in B.C., but all the search warrants were sealed. The RCMP won't say what they're looking for, only that the raids are a spin-off from a major drug investigation and as a result of something they learned in a probe of organized crime involving big-time marijuana smuggling and the exchange of British Columbia pot for U.S. cocaine. So far, 9 people have been arrested; 3 in Toronto and 6 in B.C. The Mounties won't say how that case led them to the B.C. legislature, but they said the drug trade is not just about biker gangs. "The fact that $6 billion a year is generated by this industry shouldn't surprise anyone that many people are susceptible to being corrupted," said RCMP Sgt. John Ward. CBC News has learned that another RCMP raid was carried out at a Victoria public relations firm called the Pilot House Group. A partner in the firm is Eric Borman, who also has a connection with the prime minister. He was director of operations for the Paul Martin leadership campaign. Borman is also listed as communications director for the federal Liberal party in B.C. He was not available for comment. David Basi, the staffer in the B.C. Ministry of Finance, was fired on Monday. In a statement he said that he is co-operating with the RCMP and has done nothing wrong. The other ministerial assistant, Bob Virk, has been suspended with pay. B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says the search of offices at the legislature, and the ensuing investigation, is troubling. "I don't think anyone wants this sort of thing to take place ever in the province ... I'd certainly rather that this was not taking place. But it is, and we're going to be as open and transparent as we can without jeopardizing the investigation," he told reporters by telephone while on holiday in Hawaii. Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Published: December 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 CBCContact: letters cbc.ca Website: http://www.cbc.ca/CannabisNews -- Canada Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/Canada.shtml
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Comment #19 posted by freddybigbee on January 01, 2004 at 15:11:20 PT:
Kaptinemo is hardly paranoid...
His suspicion rings true to this observer. If Canada liberalizes, it will over time expose the US policy for the fraud that it is. Therefore, the US thugs MUST control Canadian policy, by whatever means necessary.By the way, I'd love to see one of those dispicable DARE bumper stickers with the big red letters, altered to: D.A.R.E. ... to smoke weed.I once saw a pickup truck with a Marlboro pack emblazoned on the rear window. On closer examination I realized it looked just like the Marlboro ads, but actually said Marijuana. Seeing that actually had a profound effect on me. I laughed like someone who had seen the light of day through the crumbling mortar of a pitch-black prison cell.
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Comment #18 posted by kaptinemo on December 31, 2003 at 04:48:13 PT:
I see I've made a mistake
I didn't explain myself well enough.Without getting too philosophical, being a student of human behavior and history, I'm not the only one who finds that whenever a group of people achieve *de facto* if not *de jure* dictatorial powers, it goes to their heads. They believe that they are untouchable, and will do things that are beyond the bounds of normal behavior...up to and including war. Lunacy becomes the order of the day. History is littered with the bones of political systems and nations in which this has happened.Reason becomes an accessory, not 'standard equipment'. Seeing as cannabis prohibition is *already* an example of madness-as-policy, I really do believe that the Bush Cabal is engaging in meddling Up North out of spite because of the previous Liberal position on cannabis. What wasn't done to Chretien WILL be done to Martin. It's only what any bully does: to make an example. 
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Comment #17 posted by CorvallisEric on December 31, 2003 at 00:30:04 PT
kaptinemo
I won't dispute the perfidy of the Bush Cabal, and I agree with your statement that Meddling in Canadian affairs mean nothing to such as these.All I really question is the motivation for them doing so in this particular instance.Given the history of cannabis prohibition, can anyone blame me for being 'paranoid'? I can't.
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Comment #16 posted by kaptinemo on December 30, 2003 at 15:44:06 PT:
Given the history of cannabis prohibition, 
can anyone blame me for being 'paranoid'?I would strongly recommend to anyone to get an old book entitled "The Politics of Heroin in SouthEast Asia" by Alfred McCoy. It is more than a primer on the opiate trade; it shows in graphic detail the extent of government collusion in the trade, so much so that US military and intelligence agency personnel often transported the poison for the manufacturers.Not only that, the extent to which the governments involved had been active the in the various production regions (the updated version is current to 1992, and includes the Afghan trade nexus) and their inclinations to DISRUPT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, IF NEED BE, OVERTHROW THEM by force of arms.In other words, governments being destabilized in order to maintain the flow of 'goods'...rather like what's happening in Afghanistan now.Remember the old movie, "The Falcon and the Snowman"? About Christopher Boyce, who, when he found the CIA was trying to destabilize the Australian government, became a spy for the Sovs? This kind of thing is going on all the time...and being done to our ALLIES.From a Hawke to a Falcon
http://melbimc.nomasters.org/news/2003/11/58267.phpGiven the perfidy of the Bush Cabal, and what they have done around the planet, as well as the recent stink over the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie Plame incident, is it that much of a stretch to propose something as seemingly outlandish as my supposition? These Bushites are drunk on power, and like any drunk, go beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior. Meddling in Canadian affairs mean nothing to such as these.They'd do it for the sheer Hell of it.
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Comment #15 posted by CorvallisEric on December 30, 2003 at 13:12:34 PT
kaptinemo - comment 9
Anybody else see a pattern of attempted intimidation of the fledgeling Martin government?I find that a bit of stretch with:1 - The legislation being as execrable as you and many (most?) in the reform movement say.2 - The lack of evidence that Paul Martin is any improvement over his predecessors.I'm willing to tentatively accept at face value John Walters' expression of kinship with Martin:U.S. drug czar John Walters praised Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday for vowing to overhaul federal marijuana legislation and said he hopes for an end to the "abrasiveness" that marked Canada-U.S. relations under Jean Chretien.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18045.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on December 30, 2003 at 09:01:34 PT
I Archived These Last Night
Here are two more articles but they didn't say much more so I archived them.Drug Trail Led RCMP To Liberal Staffers: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18065.shtmlOrganized Crime Probe Led To B.C. Raid:
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18063.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by mayan on December 30, 2003 at 08:53:50 PT
Related...
Here's some more info...http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/xarticle/canada6272.htm
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Comment #12 posted by The GCW on December 30, 2003 at 07:43:02 PT
Sam Adams & Virgil, I think???
Bulls-eye.Cannabis is here; nobody is exterminating cannabis.I want to resist saying cannabis prohibitionists are scum.What I do want to say is We need to pray for Our rebellious brothers who are caught up in this “Spirit of Truth” separating sin of caging their brother for using what We’ve been given.They are not just scum; they are Our brothers and they need Our help to come back to the fold.If and when You use cannabis, please consider saying a prayer, to thank Creation, for the plant wonder. While You thank the Creation, wish for Our lost brothers and sisters to see the light of truth and wise up. Pray that the Spirit of Truth would find their soft spot. Pray for the cannabis prohibitionists.Pray that Our every move would only inch Us closer toward Truth.Blissed out; peaceful; beautiful; perfect Truth.That is where We are going. We can go there with cannabis; but We can not go there with cannabis prohibitionists.One has got to go and while cannabis prohibitionists are a scourge to the surface of earth, cannabis is necessary to the surface of the earth. Do not allow the unnecessary to decimate the necessary.Cannabis prohibitionists must be controlled like the plague or SARS or earthquakes or floods or worse.  From Him to YouThroughThe Green Collar Worker
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on December 30, 2003 at 07:06:23 PT
This could be great!
If this investigation includes the exchange of BC Bud for "US Cocaine", how can it benefit the DEA & John Walters & company? Sounds like it could give them a big black eye. What's worse, a country that exports cannabis, or one that exports cocaine?Given that much of the Canadian media has been calling for decrim & legalization for the last 2-3 years, what will they do if it comes out that the same government that bans the herb is making big bucks off it, and possibly managing biker gangs?The bottom line is, no matter what they do, cannabis will never go away in BC. Canadians aren't going to stop smoking it anytime soon. So the more the corruption is exposed, the better! And hopefully some of the evil political class gets thrown in jail.
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Comment #10 posted by John Tyler on December 30, 2003 at 06:30:35 PT
Seen it before
We have seen this a few times in our own gov. If they can't win with honest debate they will cheat. When there is a movement with some momentum to relax the Drug War a big scandal blows up discredit it's backers and to derail the movement. 
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on December 30, 2003 at 05:49:39 PT:
I find this a little too pat..too easy by far
There's something going on which I find to be more than a little suspicious; perhaps some of you have thought the same thing...Consider: PM Martin has an opportunity to pass *some* kind of MJ legislation...and all of a sudden his supporters are hammered with legal actions and arrests. The RCMP practically admits that Washington is calling the shots in this investigation, not Ottawa. You can bet that the impetus for this move didn't come from RCMP HQ, but from their DEA 'associates' (let's quit dancing and call them what they really are - the RCMP's MASTERS). Anybody else see a pattern of attempted intimidation of the fledgeling Martin government? Giving it an easy political out to avoid the 'nasty' chore of offending Uncle by proceeding with the already execrable legislation? All Martin has to do is drop this as being too hot, and say that he'll let the investigation go forward before he'll do anything cannabis-wise? An investigation which, of course, will drag on and on and on...Or perhaps there is something even dirtier going on, and Uncle is directly influencing Canuck poltics in a more covert way, by instigating this 'investigation' through back channels via opposition parties. An attempt to discredit the Liberals, perhaps? My, how convenient can you get?Nothing that I have said hasn't happened to other friendly governments; Uncle's reach is long and strong, and he'll back-hand friends as well as foes. The history of allied nation's intelligence agencies working together to undermine their own government's is also a fact of history. So nothing I've said is far-fetched at all. Comments?
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Comment #8 posted by Kegan on December 30, 2003 at 05:04:06 PT
Martin Makes Money
Paul Martin makes money from both side of the drug war it seems. The biggest "organized crime" in Canada is the federal parliament.
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Comment #7 posted by mayan on December 30, 2003 at 03:57:45 PT
Corrupted To The Core
"The RCMP won't say what they're looking for, only that the raids are a spin-off from a major drug investigation and as a result of something they learned in a probe of organized crime involving big-time marijuana smuggling and the exchange of British Columbia pot for U.S. cocaine."Both the U.S. and Canadian governments are corrupted to the core. I would not be surprised if this goes to the highest levels of both governments. This is exactly why they want prohibition...so they can inflate the price and get in on the action themselves! Anyone that supports prohibition is either very ignorant,has a job that depends upon it...or is a drug dealer.The way out is the way in...Another 9/11 sign in Canada: 
http://www.deceptiondollar.com/news/911sign.htmNew Allies: THE NEW PEARL HARBOR -- Was the Bush Administration Complicit in 9/11?
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=34&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
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Comment #6 posted by Virgil on December 29, 2003 at 21:02:47 PT
The media strikes (out) again
The RC show #8 in The Battle For Canada was an inteview with one of the lawyers that was brought one of the appeals. His name is John Conroy and in the show they mention that the Supreme Court found that imprisonment for possession was not demonstrably justified with some unexplained possible exceptions. The Supreme Court in effect has decriminalized possession and we would know that if the media really cared about informing us. 
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on December 29, 2003 at 20:47:45 PT
RC in #8 of series- The battle for Canada
The #8 in the series by Richard Cowan he calls "The Battle of Canada" is up at pot-tv and discusses the recent Supreme Court ruling- http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2387.htmlThe Newshawks have a show up on the ruling also- http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2391.htmlIs it really justice or is it just us?
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Comment #4 posted by CorvallisEric on December 29, 2003 at 20:22:43 PT
Remember
That's Paul "very, very, very small amounts" Martin who wants to mend fences with the US. This could get delicious.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on December 29, 2003 at 19:35:42 PT
Everybody wants it.
Politicians want it.Police want it.Bikers and bicyclists want it.Grand ma and grand pa want it.Farmers, carpenters, birds and nerdsWant it.Let Us have what We've been given.Do not cage Us for accepting Our food.
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Comment #2 posted by Virgil on December 29, 2003 at 19:03:50 PT
Politicians give Canada a black market
The Supreme Court ruling means that the Canadian government has the right to inflict a prohibition that is more harmful than legally recognized cannabis ever could. It is a kind of torture that they have allowed considering it applies to what knowledgable people make as their enhancer of choice and is the illegal cure to the alcohol age.Take your torture Canada. It is all legal and the politicians will make sure the price stays up just to increase your torture. The question was not really if cannabis was a right. It was if the government had the right to make a black market for what will be the plant of choice for all times to come. It is one huge black market and it was one huge mistake.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 29, 2003 at 18:47:11 PT
Where Will This Lead?
Is this going to be a big story? It seems like it might.
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