JO - Revise drug laws

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Revise drug laws

Wednesday, March 10, 2010


Dear Editor,


In the traditional matrix where tiny Jamaica must endure the overwhelming power and hubris of the mighty USA, we need to adopt smart strategies. If we don't, the US State Department will continue to use the drug problem as the big stick to keep us and other Third-World countries in distress ("we have the dirt on you" !), while many US states turn a blind eye to drug growing and trading. For example, some counties in California report that more than 60 per cent of local trade comprises marijuana.

Read the whole letter here.


____
Bert Ramsay
florissano1@live.com

JO - US agents stream into Jamaica, Move seen as effort to push 'Dudus' extradition.

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

US agents stream into Jamaica


Move seen as effort to push 'Dudus' extradition


Sunday, April 11, 2010


AGENTS from two American intelligence-gathering organisations have descended on Jamaica in unusual numbers over the last six months in what political watchers believe is a move by the United States to add more muscle to its request for Jamaica to extradite Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"A highly placed source told the Sunday Observer that some of the agents have been given strict instructions to pay close attention to three Government ministers, several members of the security forces, and two major downtown business operators."

"Yesterday, one source with knowledge of the country's security operations said that a significant number of foreigners, believed to be US agents, arrived in the island last Wednesday at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston."

"According to our sources, this is the latest tactic being used by the USA to have Jamaica extradite Coke, who a New York grand jury indicted last year on drug- and arms-trafficking charges."

"During the 1970s when the People's National Party administration, headed by Michael Manley, declared itself a democratic socialist government and damaged Jamaica's relations with America, CIA agents were active in Jamaica, fuelling many political fires. Some, operating as journalists, deliberately fed erroneous information to overseas media."

&

"When contacted, a spokeswoman in the DEA Office of Public Affairs in Washington said no one was available to provide information on the number of agents operating in Jamaica."

JO - Uncle Sam or son of the soil?

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Uncle Sam or son of the soil?

HEART TO HEART

With Betty Ann Blaine


Tuesday, March 09, 2010


Dear Reader,


The events of the last few weeks ring ominously for our beloved country. It is not only that the security and social fabric of the country are unravelling at an alarming rate, but the overarching umbrella of governance is crumbling as well.

Read the whole letter here.

Snippet(s):

"The country is in anarchy, but what is even worse is that the institution which is supposed to be providing the solutions, namely our government, has itself become a part of the problem.
Central to the issue of the deepening failure of Jamaican politics and politicians is the current standoff between the Golding administration and the US Government. It is not only that the opinions and conclusions formed by the State Department cast an ugly light on corruption in Jamaican politics, it has typecast an image of Jamaican society that, if not reversed quickly, may place us in a "clique" that has few escape routes and even fewer friends and allies in the West."

"Is the Golding administration undertaking a de facto referendum for us to choose between Uncle Sam or our son of the soil, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke?

As a citizen of Jamaica, I need to know if I have been involuntarily drafted for war with the United States."

"What is extremely disturbing about this public boxing match between our country and the US is the fact that we have allowed the US to expose our underwear most shamefully. What is even more distressing is that all of us who live here have been largely silent about the state of corruption and the links between political parties and criminal elements."

"The US Government's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2010 has painted a damning picture of Jamaica. Addressing the extradition standoff specifically, the report stated that "Jamaica's processing of the extradition request has been subjected to unprecedented delays, unexplained disclosure of law-enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations questioning US compliance with the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and Jamaican law"."

"Labelling Jamaica as the Caribbean's largest supplier of marijuana to the United States as well as a trans-shipment point for cocaine entering South America, the US government criticised the Golding administration's handling of crime and corruption."

&

"So the Golding administration has pulled us all into a fight with America over the extradition of someone described as an alleged narcotics and gun trafficker and is essentially asking the people of Jamaica to choose."

_____

With love,

bab2609@yahoo.com

JO - Dudus, US Gov't, interception of information

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Dudus, US Gov't, interception of information

Ken Chaplin

Tuesday, March 09, 2010


THIS column begs to differ with the editorial, "No man is (worth) an island" in last Thursday's edition of the Observer regarding the constitutionality of the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who is wanted in America for alleged drug and gun-trafficking charges.

Read the whole column here.

Snippet(s):

"It appears that information relating to Coke's alleged activities was forwarded to the US authorities after Coke's telephone was illegally tapped by operatives of a secret multinational intelligence agency, and this information was used to support the extradition request. Responding to the 2010 International Narcotics Control Report issued by the US Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Golding told Parliament last Wednesday that one aspect of the request which seemed to have worried the government was the violation of the Interception of Communications Act. The Act makes strict provisions for the manner in which intercepted communications may be obtained and disclosed. The evidence supporting the extradition request violated those provisions, said Golding. This violation is a serious offence."

"The minister has requested information from the US Government, after which the matter will be further considered."

&

"The US Department of State was not careful, as it ought to be, in the preparation of its report on the efforts of the security forces and the Jamaican authorities in the fight against international drug trafficking and organised crime. It should have been more specific and less generic in its evaluation regarding these matters. Certainly, there are a few areas where more progress could have been made, but there are a large number of areas in which the struggle has been remarkably successful, some with the assistance of the US Government."

JG - EDITORIAL - Where is the 'Dudus' Coke case?

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

EDITORIAL - Where is the 'Dudus' Coke case?

Published: Sunday February 28, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions


Fifteen years ago when Bruce Golding began aggressively to seek the job of prime minister of Jamaica, he didn't merely lodge his application. He also wrote his own job description, accompanied by a business plan for the overhaul of the country.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The core of Mr Golding's proposal was the reform of politics and to run a government that was moral. Critical to this restructuring would be, in the language of the period, the dismantling of political garrisons. Mr Golding would not cavort, directly or otherwise, with the enforcers of these zones of political exclusions, that have morphed fertile territory of violence, extortion and other forms of criminality."

"In the context of a functioning liberal democracy this would have been no big deal, but by the standards of Jamaica's often dysfunctional political arrangements, Mr Golding would have been aware that he was setting a high bar for himself. But he was willing, Mr Golding assured Jamaicans, to pay, if necessary, a political price for having a serious go at this transformation."

"It is nearly half a year since the US government requested the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, ostensibly a businessman, but who the Americans accuse of smuggling narcotics into their country and running guns from the United States to Jamaica."

"Mr Golding's justice minister, Ms Dorothy Lightbourne, has so far declined to sign the extradition order so that the Jamaican courts can determine whether the Americans have established a prime facie case against Mr Coke. The Jamaican government has asked the Americans for more and better particulars about the indictment. The government insists that it is protecting the constitutional rights of a Jamaican citizen.

The problem for the administration is that neither the United States nor a large swathe of the Jamaican population believes that."

&

"Mr Coke happens to be based in West Kingston, Mr Golding's parliamentary constituency, whose political epicentre is Tivoli Gardens, which is considered by many as a kind of command and control centre of the governing Jamaica Labour Party. Mr Coke, as benefactor, is considered to be a man of great power and influence in West Kingston and elsewhere, which he 'inherited' from his father, Lester Coke, or Jim Brown, who the Americans also tried to extradite. It is presumed that Mr Coke's actions can influence the political fortunes of the JLP and that to touch him might ignite a volatile security powder keg.

However, the Americans have made it apparent that despite the Government's clunking dance, they still want Mr Coke, as was made clear by Julissa Reynoso, deputy assistant secretary of state, when she visited Jamaica last month and met with Foreign Minister Ken Baugh."

JO - Second indictment against Dudus?

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Second indictment against Dudus?

Sunday, March 07, 2010

THE American Government has prepared a second indictment against Tivoli Gardens don Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, a highly placed source in Washington has told the Sunday Observer.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The US has accused Coke of drug- and gun-trafficking.

A diplomatic joust has developed between Kingston and Washington over the extradition request filed last August but which has not yet been processed for hearing in a Jamaican court."

&

"(L)ast Monday, the US State Department, in a scathing International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, questioned Jamaica's commitment to law enforcement co-operation and accused the Golding administration of unprecedented delays, unexplained disclosure of law enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations questioning the US' compliance with the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and Jamaican law."

JO - The eagle vs the doctor bird

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

The eagle vs the doctor bird

BARBARA GLOUDON

Friday, March 05, 2010


IN THIS CORNER - The Big Eagle... In this corner, the little doctor bird fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world... Ding-ding-ding...a tiny doctor bird flying into the face of a great big eagle, sharp talons, beak and all, to let that old raptor know "don't joke wid wi. Wi little but we very tallawah." In that spirit of tallawahness, we're currently engaged in a battle which has many people confused.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"This business of the request for the extradition of the man who is fast becoming a Jamaican urban legend has gone from a mere formality to high drama. After months of waiting for us to fulfil the request for the alleged accused to be delivered to them to answer allegations of drug and gun-running, the Eagle has decided to turn up the heat. They ramped up our status on the list of countries which they believe need to straighten up and fly right. They tested the patience of one of our prominent citizens by cancelling his visa, subjecting him to public embarrassment. Students of warfare will recognise the "warning shot across the bow"."

"It is not the first time that a Jamaican prime minister has decided to play tough with Washington. In the testosterone-laden days of the 70s, Mr Manley sent packing the US Ambassador who was prone to lapses in appropriate behaviour."

"If the object of the exercise is to get Washington to show us respect, to admit that Jamaicans have constitutional rights which do not "stop at Liguanea", to quote the PM, then why are we going about it this way? Other questions of the day include the query about diplomatic intervention."

&

"(O)ut on the street people want to know what this is going to mean for them. Will America retaliate by cancelling more visas, not only for the powerful but the powerless? The thought of never being able to go to Brooklyn again is enough to send some people into depression.

Never mind all that stuff you see on the news about economic recession in America, Jamaicans still want to go there. We're not afraid of hard times. We are survivors. If anybody can make it in America, it is us. So... please, oonu leave the visa out of it."

_____
gloudonb@yahoo.com

NYT - U.S. Consular Aide and Husband Killed in Mexico

Bad news from the border:

New York Times

U.S. Consular Aide and Husband Killed in Mexico

By MARC LACEY and GINGER THOMPSON

Published: March 14, 2010

LA UNIÓN, Mexico — Gunmen believed to be linked to drug traffickers shot a pregnant American consulate worker and her husband to death in the violence-racked border town of Ciudad Juárez over the weekend, leaving their baby wailing in the back seat of their car, the authorities said Sunday. The gunmen also killed the husband of another consular employee and wounded his two young children.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The shootings appeared to be the first deadly attacks on American officials and their families by Mexico’s powerful drug organizations."

"The killings followed threats against American diplomats along the Mexican border and complaints from consulate workers that drug-related violence was growing untenable, American officials said. Even before the shootings, the State Department had quietly made the decision to allow consulate workers to evacuate their families across the border to the United States."

"The F.B.I. was sending agents to Ciudad Juárez on Sunday to assist with the investigation and American diplomats were also en route to meet with their Mexican counterparts, said Roberta S. Jacobson, the American deputy assistant secretary of state who handles Mexico."

"Officials with the state of Chihuahua issued a statement Sunday night saying that initial evidence, corroborated by intelligence from the United States, pointed to a gang known as Los Aztecas. American interests in Mexico have been attacked by drug traffickers before but never with such brutality. Attackers linked to the Gulf Cartel shot at and hurled a grenade, which did not explode, at the American consulate in Monterrey in 2008, Mexican authorities said.

The shootings in Ciudad Juárez took place in broad daylight, within minutes of each other on Saturday as the victims were on their way home from a social gathering at another consulate worker’s home."

"Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, the husband of a consular worker, was found dead in a white Honda Pilot, with bullet wounds to his body, the authorities said. In the back seat were two wounded children, one aged 4 and one 7. They were taken to the hospital.

Shell casings from a variety of caliber weapons were found at the scene.

Another call came in 10 minutes later, several miles away. This time it was a Toyota RAV4 with Texas plates that had been shot up, with two dead adults inside and a baby crying from a car seat in the back. Mexican officials identified the couple as Lesley A. Enriquez, 25, a consulate employee, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelf, 30, from across the border in El Paso.

Ms. Enriquez, an American citizen, was shot in the head. Her husband was shot in neck and left arm. A 9 mm bullet casing was found at the scene."

&

continued

(Page 2 of 2)

"Concerned about the rising violence, the State Department had decided that employees at a string of consular offices along the Mexican border — Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros — could temporarily evacuate their families to the United States. That decision was not formally announced until Sunday."

_____
Marc Lacey reported from La Unión, Mexico, and Ginger Thompson from Washington. Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington, and Elisabeth Malkin and Antonio Betancourt from Mexico City.

JG - More aid coming from US for regional security - PM

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

More aid coming from US for regional security - PM


Published: Sunday April 19, 2009


Prime Minister Bruce Golding says he is encouraged by the commitment of the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, to give more assistance to the Caribbean and Latin America to reduce piracy and gun and drug running through the region's waters.

Read the whole article here.

LAT - Advice for Mexico-bound spring breakers, from U.S. State Department

From my archive of press clippings:

Los Angeles Times


Advice for Mexico-bound spring breakers, from U.S. State Department

Monday, February 23, 2009

Students all over the U.S. are in the midst of dreaming up spring break plans, and if past years are any indication, many thousands will be hitting beaches in Mexico for relaxation and, of course, plenty of recreation.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"On Feb. 20, 2009, the U.S. State Department renewed its travel alert for Mexico, which includes advice that tourists visit “only legitimate business and tourist areas during daylight hours” and avoid “areas where prostitution and drug dealing might occur.”

The advisory mentions “the greatest increase in violence” having been near the U.S.-Mexico border. But it does not pinpoint other specific geographic parts to be wary of, nor does it suggest that U.S. travelers avoid Mexico altogether."

JG - Haitian haul - Trafficking flourishes

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Haitian haul - Trafficking flourishes

published: Sunday June 22, 2008

Haiti, because of its porous borders, has become the preferred route from which to ship ganja to the United States. A source, knowledgeable about the illicit business, discloses that when the ganja is to be sent to Haiti, contact is made with local fishermen to transport the weed.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"(T)he trick to eluding law enforcement authorities is to leave Jamaican coastline late at nights and ending up in Haitian waters by midmorning."

JO - EXTRADITED. 'Deedo' Nembhard, four other J'cans handed over to US to face drug trafficking charges.

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

EXTRADITED

'Deedo' Nembhard, four other J'cans handed over to US to face drug trafficking charges

BY KARYL WALKER Observer staff reporter walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

Saturday, July 12, 2008

NORRIS 'Deedo' Nembhard, the alleged Jamaican drug kingpin, and four other Jamaicans were yesterday handed over to the United States authorities to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, despite last-minute attempts by their lawyers to prevent their extradition. On Thursday, Nembhard's attorney, Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, applied for special leave in the Court of Appeal to allow for an application to the United Kingdom-based Privy Council, as she continued her bid to prevent her client from being extradited.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"(T)he attorney was livid after learning that her client, along with Robroy 'Spy' Williams, his bother Glenford Williams, Vivian Dalley and former police corporal Herbert 'Scarry' Henry were airlifted by helicopter from the Horizon Remand Centre in Kingston and handed over to the Americans at the Norman Manley International Airport at about 9:00 am."

&

"Nembhard, a St Ann businessman, was held by the police during a sting operation in that parish in 2004, after US drug enforcement authorities requested that he be extradited to face drug-running and conspiracy charges in Florida.

The other men were held by local narcotics agents during similar operations in western Jamaica. United States President George W Bush, shortly after the arrest of Nembhard, declared him and another Jamaican businessman, Lebert Ramcharan, drug kingpins."

TA - Bound for the US? Best take a number

The Australian

Bound for the US? Best take a number


Steve Creedy January 08, 2009


Article from: The Australian


NAZIS need not apply, terrorists can forget about it and spies can turn around now.

Drug traffickers are out and people who have been convicted of moral turpitude should not even bother getting a cab to the airport.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"From Monday, US-bound Australians will be required to declare that they have not been involved in acts of sabotage, genocide and Nazi persecutions before they leave the country.

A new system that allows US authorities to perform police checks before passengers arrive on American soil requires passengers to obtain an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) number prior to checking in at the airport."

"The soon-to-be compulsory system has been operating on a voluntary basis since August and requires travellers to fill out and submit an online form. Required information includes address, passport details, phone numbers and email address as well as those uniquely American questions optimistically asking passengers to declare any past evil-doings.

The information is checked against law enforcement databases to determine eligibility to travel but does not guarantee admission to the US."

&

"Those who applied for an ESTA number and were told they were not eligible to travel would need to go to the consulate."