Coast Guard Statement on Drug Arrest
[Updated] The U.S. Coast Guard today [Dec 23] issued a statement which appears to correspond to a statement issued yesterday by the Bermuda Police Service about the arrest of the three Bermudians aboard a boat with over $13 million worth of marijuana.
The statement from the U.S. officials does not mention Bermuda in any manner, and when contacted by Bernews U.S. officials declined to provide more information, saying the investigation is ongoing.
However, the date of arrest, amount of suspects, boat size, and drug listed are all the same. Both the American and Bermuda official statements say three people were detained by the Coast Guard in the Caribbean area on December 13th after a large quantity of marijuana/resin was found on a 34-foot boat.
Assuming the two statements relate to the same incident, new information provided says the boat was “15 miles east of Dominican Republic,” and that they found “16 bales of marijuana and two bricks of hashish” aboard.
US officials say “the suspected smugglers, contraband and sailing vessel were transfered to Caribbean Corridor Strike Force Thursday in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.”
Full statement issued by the U.S. Coast Guard today:
Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter Farallon located 16 bales of marijuana and two bricks of hashish from a vessel heading east of Dominican Republic, Dec. 13, 2010.
While conducting a routine patrol, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless located a 34-foot sailing vessel 15 miles east of Dominican Republic. The crew of the Cutter Farollon intercepted the vessel.
During an initial safety inspection, members of the boarding team located about 16 bales of marijuana in the vessel’s forward and aft compartments.
The boarding team also discovered two bricks of hashish in the forward cabin. The boarding team seized the contraband and detained the three suspected smugglers aboard.
The contraband and suspected smugglers were transferred to Coast Guard Cutter Farallon and then to the Coast Guard Cutter Cushing.
The suspected smugglers, contraband and sailing vessel were transfered to Caribbean Corridor Strike Force Thursday in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
Full statement issued by the Bermuda Police yesterday:
On Monday the 13th December 2010, the United States Coast Guard intercepted a 34 foot Bermuda owned and registered sloop in international waters in the Caribbean, as a result of a joint operation between RCC Bermuda, H.M. Customs Bermuda, Bermuda Police Service and other law enforcement agencies in the USA.
The vessel had sailed from Bermuda on the 16th November with a crew of three Bermudians onboard at which time its stated destination was the Caribbean. At the time of its interception it appeared to have been leaving the Caribbean area.
Upon searching the vessel, a significant quantity of cannabis and cannabis resin was discovered on board. Initial estimates of the street value in Bermuda of the illegal drug are in excess of $13 million.
The vessel has been seized by the Coast Guard and the three Bermudian crew members detained. When jurisdictional rights have been agreed upon, the crew is expected to face prosecution, possibly in the USA, whereupon H.M. Customs and the Bermuda Police Service will continue to provide all necessary support.
Update: The three men have been named as Shawn Antoine Simmons, Antoine Wenfield Eugene Russel and Raymont Steven Bernard Francis, and the boast named as ‘Phantasea.’
some ppl say a weed war is gonna break out. I thought weedoes were calm, cool folks, a far cry from dope feins and crack heads…..
If you are referring to the dealers it could happen. If you are referring to the users most likely not as they are the calm folks. Weed is nothing like dope or crack which are greatly both mentally and physically addictive however they are all illegal. Disclaimer I do not smoke but know a lot who have and weed is as harmful as a cigarette IMO the dealers on the other hand may not be……
LOL
there already is a weed war…its called the ‘War on Drugs’.
Set The Weed Free!!….no I’m not a smoker and not even the cancer sticks…but damn, re-legalize it…no proven fact that it’s bad….none
Some guys in Suits made it illegal back in the day, the New Suit guys of today need to reverse that!!….it’s only right
Back to my orange WKD!…sip sip sip, Merry Xmas!!
@brasco No proven fact that it’s bad..none??????????
And where have you been living lately? You dont watch the news??
Well obviously you have no proven facts because you cant state them. Lets not get it twisted o.k…. BANG!!! The man (U.S) get a piece of weed supposedly headed for Bermuda. Kewl, no truth in it as the U.S still havent released any further details. So what are you on about!!! Peanut
It wasnt me, you say you think weedoes were calm an collective, we are “blink”. Just like any substance abuse you have people that take advantage of it. Dont ever catergorize people that smoke weed with smugglers. Big Difference!!!
Azz Guy,You say its war on drugs, please explain how weed came into this drug war. You bring up dealers fighting I will slap you through this computer. Half of you dont even know what this madness is about, its money. If Tshirts was the #1 seller in Bermuda they would be killing each other for it. Its not about grades, coke or dope, these guys are about money. It’s not The Grades!!! Big up all grade smokers, I get my vybez and done!!!Azzes
@all wankers you R – amen to dat lol. People keep arguin bout de same tired shit and yet they don’t even kno half de stuff of whats REALLY goin on.
“tell dem seh high grade foreva and de bush weed neva…neva give ya pleasure”
BANG!!
@Jay…That’s scary that you believe what you see on TV and in News articles….Come out of that fantasy world you living in….I bet you were one of the people running from that Dockyard Tsunami couples years back.
Name one person that has died from too much Weed?!?!?!?…..I’m a little slow, please link me one proven bad fact of weed….and please none of the “It Could’s” or “It Will’s” or “It May Cause” or “This Is A Gateway”….
If you’re a week minded person that allows stress to take over and don’t believe in the most high (GOD), that’s a gateway to hard drugs and alcoholism, not weed….Duh!
You can call me Governments new Weed Advisor.
Now back to my orange WKD….Sip Sip Sip….Merry Xmas!!!
I think your “suits” just got stolen from Paget cleaners………………….
Interesting..the Royal Gazette photograph apparently attributed to the same story shows at least 30 bales – far in excess of the 16 reported by the CG.
Actually, that’s not a photo of this haul, the Coast Guard hasn’t released one yet, and not through lack of trying to get one on the media’s part lol. The RG labeled the photo as a file photo, its a general example pic – not a photo of the actual drug seizure.
Legalize It!
Had to quit for a good job!
But see no harm in it..only reason it is illegal is because one U.S. president rejected advice to make it legal..
Never smoked Cigarettes, Crack, Coke, Heroin, Mushrooms etc etc etc
Far from a Gateway drug
@ all you wankers
you guys always make me laugh at how far you are willing to support and fight for the legalizing of marijuana,but you dont even realize even what your saying and the effects it has of on peoples lives and the destruction it costs, you say the same thing what are the facts,state the facts on how it hurts people.If you are that blind my friend and you need someone to state the facts of how smoking a drug everyday can harm you,its really not even worth answering and getting into a debate about to people who dont smoke and want nothing to do with it.It will remain illegal end of story,cause the majority of smart people know how harmful it is.
If some of you guys directed your same focus on more positive things the way you support legalization ,……………… there are more important issues than legalization.Legalization is irrelevant and not up for discussion ever..
Just real talk .Deal with it.
You think it’s illegal because it’s supposed to be harmfull???….you can’t be that smart jayjay…..damn, to many Tylenols can kill you dude…that’s real talk
@JayJay – Cuz we believe in what’s right and we see/live de real picture everyday while you sit behind ya computer desk arguing ova whether ya opinion is right. Yes we ARE ALL entitled to our own opinions, but ya opinion is just trash my friend.(my OWN opinion). Yes ANYTHING you INHALE or put SMOKE into ya lungs is bad obviously…but then again if herb was so bad why do they use it to treat medical cases i.e. asthma, respiratory illnesses, cancers, terminal diseases, etc…I could go on bra. With continuing research on it to figure out it’s BENEFITS!! You’ve NEVER heard about anyone overdose from weed, and the only reason its illegal is because MONEY is involved and its part of a PROPAGANDA push that started in the United States way back when they hadn’t done any RESEARCH about de drug so get ova yaself. You yaself jayjay are brainwashed by what de governments and otha people who condone it want you to believe. Herb’s been there since day 1 when de earth started, not man made with all de chemicals like otha drugs, non-addictive, connected to spirituality and religion all across de globe, get wit de program as soon as people start realized (you and others) that’s its just a little plant that when ya light it on fire it has “magical powers and gets you high (katt williams ahha) then we’ll all be cool. The main reason behind it is de MONEY side to things, which is what the world revolves around nowadays so ya, get wid de program. I aint harmin nobody jayjay….back to smokin my gradez!! Blessings
Just a simple request – can everyone on the site not have the same screen name as me? Not to be childish but “I was here first”. There are plenty other names out there and I don’t want people thinking we’re all the same person.
Different names are best yes, so we all don’t get confused.
Another option is to get a distinctive custom avatar like I have ——>
Go to http://en.gravatar.com/ and sign up, free, easy takes 2 mins if that. Then whenever you post under the email address you registered on Gravatar with the custom avatar will show up. Works on many sites, not just here.
Patricia
i will change my name after this topic @ jay
And @ brasco yes I am that smart.
And @ bermy shotta i am not going to get into more discussions about whos right and whos wrong ,and who said what I said is my opinion?If you think the only reason its illegal is because of money then your dead wrong ,but i am not going to comment on this right now, there are real issues in this world that need to be addressed, this is a waste of time,and all the more reason it should stay ilegal its a waste of time for me to even discuss it.Our violence has risen to epic proportions and your here telling me that everythings ok with herb because nobody has overdosed from it ,you can prob convince some people of that bs but not me and others that know better