Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 Source: Cape Breton Post (CN NS) Copyright: 2004 Cape Breton Post Contact: http://www.capebretonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/777 Author: T.J. Colello MILLION-DOLLAR DRUG BUST ON CSL SHIP Sydney - A $12-$14 million drug bust on a Canada Steamship Lines vessel, docked in Sydney harbour, Wednesday, may well be the largest Cape Breton has ever seen. In August 2000, a $10.8 million cocaine seizure in Aulds Cove, was believed to be the largest ever in Cape Breton at the time. In the 2000 incident, the Norwegian vessel Ballangen yielded 47 single bricks of cocaine weighing 54.2 kilograms. The cocaine in the this week's bust is believed to have come from the same location, the port of Maracaibo, Venezuela. The city borders the number one country in the world for cocaine production, Colombia. Early Wednesday morning, RCMP and Canadian Border Service Agency officials seized the drugs during a routine inspection of the CSL vessel, the Sheila Ann, using an underwater camera. The vessel, which has been in operation with CSL since January 2000, is named after Prime Minister Paul Martin's wife, Sheila Ann Martin. Martin was appointed president of CSL in 1974 and he and a partner bought the company in 1981 for $189 million. Martin bought out his partner in 1988 and took full control. When he entered politics in the mid-1990s, Martin 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 and his wife transferred control of the company to their three adult sons, Paul, James and David. The Sheila Ann was docked at the Emera Inc. coal piers, located at the bottom of Dominion Street in Whitney Pier. The 70,000 dwt (dead weight tonne) self-unloader was delivering bulk coal. The vessel was cleared to leave Sydney harbour and departed at about 6:30 p.m., Wednesday. Michel Proulx, spokesperson for the CBSA, said the 83 kilos of drugs were stashed in two duffel bags hidden in the rudder area of the vessel. "CBSA staff conducted a targeted examination of a vessel that came in from Venezuela," he said. "The crew and captain have been spoken with and no charges have been laid." Proulx said the drugs were found on the sea chest area of the ship, which holds ballast water. He believes divers were the only ones able to place the drugs on the outside of the vessel. "It was totally done under the ship," he said. "We needed a diver to locate it, so I'm assuming they would use divers to plant this stuff on the ship." The vessel was destined for Halifax and eventually, Florida, but Proulx said he was unsure where the drugs were meant to be delivered. He said a joint investigation between the RCMP and CBSA is still underway. "It's not uncommon for legitimate companies to be exploited by organized crime and the international movement of drugs and contraband," said Proulx. "It looks at this point and time (that) it was piggy-backed on." Susan Horne, president of the Customs Excise Union in Nova Scotia, which represents customs officers, 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 on the ship undetected is unclear, said Horne. ''The ship's owner has committed to work to improve security for the vessel,'' she said. CSL is headquartered in Montreal and has offices in Halifax, Winnipeg, Burlington, Ont., Boston, Singapore and Sydney, Australia. Martine Malka, a spokesperson for the company, said the packages must have been smuggled in from Maracaibo, the vessel's last stop before Sydney. She said four bolts holding an 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.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Derek