People still import marijuana into BC?

[StoneMtn]

Fishing boat had 1,600 kilos of marijuana

globalnational.com

Friday, May 26, 2006

VICTORIA -- Police say they have found 1,600 kilograms of marijuana aboard a ship seized Monday in Ucluelet, a small town on the west coast of British Columbia's Vancouver Island.

The RCMP say 142 bales of the Mexican pot were found in a hold and another 23 bales were behind a false wall at the forward end of the 47-metre fishing vessel.

Insp. Paul Nadeau says the search continues, but authorities believe they have most of the drugs.

The registered owner of the MV Bakur is Limar Fishing Ltd., and two of the company's directors, 52-year-old Phil Stirling of Adams Lake and Ralph Harris, 66, of Ladysmith, are among those charged with importing drugs.

The third director is Phil's wife, Marlene Stirling, who is not facing charges. The couple live in Adams Lake, near Chase. Also charged are John Edward Corbin, 46, of Chase, 36-year-old Sean Michael Cochrane of Waham, Alta. and Walberto Armenta-Ruelas, 40, of Sonora, Mexico.

All five, arrested Monday, appeared in Victoria provincial court Wednesday.

The Bakur left Halifax in December and travelled through the Panama Canal before coming north to Vancouver Island. The drugs are believed to have originated in South America.

At 2:30 a.m. Monday, the vessel pulled into Ucluelet to be greeted by the RCMP and officials from the Canadian Border Services Agency.

The Bakur is described on Worldbid.com as being able to hold 300,000 pounds of fish in its hold. Amenities include a satellite phone, e-mail with a web camera "so you can see the fishing operation and the fish live from your computer."

It was previously used as a freezer tuna longliner but on May 19 was registered in Victoria as a pleasure craft.

Stirling made headlines in February 2001 when he was the skipper and owner of the Western Wind, a 27-metre fishing boat seized in Juan de Fuca Strait with 2.5 tonnes of cocaine valued at $250 million in its bow. Cochrane was the engineer aboard the Western Wind. No one was charged in the Western Wind case.

-- With files from CanWest News Service and Canadian Press

© Global National 2006

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[Davey Boy 2.0]

sounds like they were out of coke and he was there anyway, so it'd be a shame not to smuggle something

[Freeker]

How do you not get charged when you've got 2.5 tons of blow. He must of claimed it was just for his own personal use.

[Freak By Night]

How do you not get charged when you've got 2.5 tons of blow. He must of claimed it was just for his own personal use.

"My client had merely found the coke, and was on his way to turn it in."

[StoneMtn]

How do you not get charged when you've got 2.5 tons of blow. He must of claimed it was just for his own personal use.

I'm only speculating, but probably Charter issues that caused the evidence to be tossed out of Court; eg. unreasonable search, etc...

As a wise agent for the Federal Crown once told me, "In a drug case, if you don't have any constitutional/Charter issues; you have a conviction."