Nova Scotia Mounties say claims that someone recently imported 100 kilograms of high-quality hashish into Eastern Canada are being checked out.
In its April edition, Cannabis Culture, an online magazine that covers hashish issues, including advocacy, published an article whose author said he was lucky enough to “get his hands on 100 kg” of top-of-the-line hashish.
The author, who appears to use the pseudonym Nigel Budworth, wrote that the drugs arrived on the East Coast in five ammunition cans.
“The East Coast has recently resurfaced as the destination for Afghani hash smuggled in from overseas,” the author said in the article, titled Real Afghani Hashish.
“I was able to get my hands on 100 kg of primo, No. 1 Gold Seal Afghani, pictured here,” he said.
The article contains several photos of the drugs and the ammunition cans it allegedly arrived in.
“A lot of people on the East Coast of Canada are reminded of the good old days when they discover how potent the smoke is,” he said.
“Though paltry in size compared to the days of old, this shipment is the real deal; high-quality, real Afghani hashish.”
RCMP Supt. Brian Brennan, in charge of the Mounties’ drug section in Nova Scotia, said in a recent interview that it’s surprising the author was so willing to talk about his stash publicly.
The superintendent said he was going to have his officers follow up on the possibility such a shipment did arrive on the East Coast.
“I will direct the intelligence unit to take a look at it,” he said. “It could be of interest to an investigative unit somewhere else in Canada.
“We’d have to do some background on it. My interest would be to take that and give it to our intelligence sections, having a look at it — does it have merit.”
A staffer at Cannabis Culture magazine said in an interview this summer that he didn’t know how to contact the author, noting the writer usually contacts staff.
Meanwhile, the magazine’s publisher, Marc Emery, also known as the Prince of Pot, turned himself in to British Columbia authorities on Monday.
Mr. Emery faces extradition to the U.S. for selling marijuana seeds to Americans. He’s set to serve five years in prison there after reaching a plea bargain with U.S. authorities.
The fact that the drugs, if they did come to the East Coast, were packed in ammunition cans, as claimed by the author, doesn’t mean there was a military connection, military sources said recently.
Ammunition cans like those pictured in the article can easily be bought via the Internet or at army surplus stores.
Supt. Brennan said the reference to this region also doesn’t mean the alleged drug shipment came to Nova Scotia. Nonetheless, the information will be passed on to officers to see if it “rings a bell with anybody,” he said.
“From a policing perspective, this is something that needs to be examined by our intelligence people . . . and then spread it out through our intelligence community.”
An RCMP spokeswoman said Tuesday that the information from the article has been placed on the Mounties’ intelligence database.
Supt. Brennan said that over the past several years, criminals have shifted from transporting large drug shipments to sending smaller packages of contraband instead. That way, if smaller supplies of contraband are seized by police, crime bosses don’t lose as much money, he said.
In the article lauding the 100-kilogram shipment, the author laments changes in the drug smuggling industry and the loss of high-quality product.
“At one time, the people involved in smuggling were mostly a good bunch of rogues and there was little violence associated with the hash trade,” he wrote.
“When those decent people went out of business in the ’80s, a whole new crowd of biker gangs and organized crime families moved in to do business. The whole business changed and so did the quality of the hash.”
The writer goes on to say new drug kingpins have diluted the product by using fillers to maximize their profits.
Supt. Brennan said dope dealers frequently alter their products with other substances, often cocaine.
By EVA HOARE
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