A year-long police investigation is said to have uncovered evidence that five shipments of marijuana were sent from New Jersey to Bermuda during the past 12months. Those details are contained in a press statement on the US Drug Enforcement Agency website, which went on to add that the arrests were made on Tuesday after a police dog sniffed out 700lbs of marijuana hidden inside concrete pillars at a warehouse in Orange, New Jersey.Two men – one of them the husband of a Bermuda MP – have been arrested in the US accused of sending cannabis worth $15 million to Bermuda.
One of the arrested men is Dennis Pamplin, who is the husband of UBP MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin. The other man is Brian Henry.Last night, Shadow Minister of Works and Engineering Mrs Gordon-Pamplin, expressed shock at the news."I don't know enough. I need to digest what's going on. I am not really in a position to comment. If their (police) suggestion is true, I am shocked and that's all Ican say,"she said. According to Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) New Jersey they, along with members of the Orange Police Department, seized the 700 pounds of marijuana and subsequently arrested Mr. Pamplin and Mr. Henry.
The US agency's press release said the investigation began in July 2007 and involved the Bermuda Police Service."During this time period, Brian Henry assisted Dennis Pamplin in packaging more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana for approximately five different shipments that were transported overseas from the Port of Newark in New Jersey to Bermuda."Andrew Boyce, Chief Inspector and the spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service estimated that the marijuana would be worth more than $15 million on the streets of Bermuda. He said: "This operation is a clear indication of the long and productive relationship between the DEA and the Bermuda Police Service. "The quantity of drugs seized is very significant from the Bermuda perspective, as a weight could be sold on the streets of Bermuda for more than $15 million.
"We will provide whatever support and assistance that is required by the DEA to make this case a success." According to the DEA, on Tuesday a canine trained in the detection of narcotics alerted an area near six concrete pillars that later revealed to have a metal cylinder about five feet high by one foot wide inside.Inside each of those was an individually wrapped, vacuum-sealed discs which contained the suspected marijuana.
Also seized from within the warehouse were scales, hydraulic pressing machines, vacuum-sealing materials, and disc shaped steel moulds.This is not the first time Pamplin, who is American, has been in trouble with the US authorities.
Last year he was arrested in Chatham, New Jersey on August 28 along with two other men when more than $100,000 was found on them.According to reports in the Morristown Daily Record, Police had responded to reports of erratic driving and upon searching Pamplin's SUV found envelopes filled with $47,000 in cash.
The other two men were in a second car where the additional money was discovered by Police.Pamplin's lawyer Paul Bergrin had said the $47,000 seized from his client was legitimate cash he intended to use to buy music recording equipment.
In his most recent run-in with the law, both Pamplin and Henry were charged in the Southern District of New York with conspiracy to unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 1,000 kilos and more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana.
Henry was remanded into custody of the USMarshals Service with no bail and Pamplin was remanded into custody of the USMarshals Service in lieu of a $3 million personal recognisance bond.
Special Agent in Charge of the DEA, New Jersey Division, Gerard P. McAleer added: "This paradise island nation has not been immune to the ill effects of drug trafficking and the arrest of these men will have a profound affect on the availability of drugs in Bermuda. "The Bermuda Police Service has always worked diligently with the DEA to thwart drug traffickers working between our countries."
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