Pubdate: Thu, 28 Mar 2002
Source: Royal Gazette, The (Bermuda)
Website: http://www.theroyalgazette.com
Address: PO Box HM1025, Hamilton HMDX, Bermuda
Contact:  20Copyright 01 The Royal Gazette Ltd
Fax: 441-292-2498
Author: Stephen Breen

SOLDIERS UP IN ARMS OVER FAILED DRUG BUST

Bermuda Regiment commander Colonel David Gibbons is to hold a clear-the-air 
meeting with soldiers who are furious at having been forced to take x-rays 
after they were suspected of carrying drugs back from annual camp in Jamaica.

The Royal Gazette has been told seven corporals were among the seventeen 
soldiers pulled aside and they are so angry that they want to resign their 
posts and serve as privates.

The soldiers were detained at Bermuda International Airport on Saturday 
night following an intelligence report from Jamaica that some had smuggled 
drugs. They were later x-rayed at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

No drugs were found on any of them, although sniffer dogs at the Airport 
did detect a smell of cannabis from some of the soldiers.

Col Gibbons told The Royal Gazette last night he was aware that the 
soldiers were frustrated and that he was to have a meeting with Police, 
Customs, and Labour and Home Affairs to discuss how the matter was handled.

He has already met some senior officers and intends to meet the soldiers, 
who have complained about their treatment through their sergeants.

Col Gibbons said: "I am aware that there is frustration and I have met with 
some of my senior officers, and I will be meeting representatives from the 
Ministry, as well as Police and Customs to go through what happened.

"In the future, there will be further meetings with some of the individuals 
to further explained what happened here.

"I can accept that there is frustration, but when we sit down and the dust 
has settled, I hope they will understand that because of their positions of 
responsibility, it has to be seen that there is no favouritism and the 
system is working.

"The fact that they are not guilty is wonderful from my point of view, and 
we have to be seen to show that we are not above the law.

"It is my hope that they will understand that, and in talking with the 
Ministry, we will be in a position to see what went well - that drugs 
didn't get in - and what went wrong, and how we can improve it."

The wife of one corporal told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "All the 
corporals are so upset that they don't want to be corporals anymore.

"They want to throw in their stripes and be privates because they feel so 
upset and violated. All the guys knew they would get six years if they were 
caught with any drugs in Jamaica, and some of those taken aside don't even 
smoke or drink.

"My husband and his friends all checked each other's bags because they were 
so nervous to ensure that nothing had been planted on them."

The woman said that groups of Regiment soldiers were constantly being 
approached by taxi drivers in Jamaica and others offering to sell them 
marijuana and ecstasy.

"If it is so easy for them to have access to drugs in Jamaica and they are 
worrying about them bringing back drugs, why do they send them there for 
training?" she asked.
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