$1 million in pot discovered at Vandenberg Air Force Base

March 8, 2013

pangaThe United States Air Force received a million dollar donation Thursday in marijuana. [Lompoc Record]

Vandenberg Air Force Base personnel discovered an overturned panga boat and at least $1 million of marijuana around 1 p.m. Thursday just north of Wall Beach.

Operators of the boat had removed its engine and left the marijuana in dark-colored trash bags camouflaged with brush on top.

Air Force investigators searched the base, but could not identify any suspects or weapons. Investigators are also unaware of when the boat came ashore, but believe it may have landed Wednesday.

The Air Force raised the level of security on the base Thursday and conducted random searches. It turned over the investigation late in the day to the Department of Homeland Security, which took possession of the marijuana and the boat. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol are also participating in the investigation.

In recent months, panga boats have beached in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. The boat found Thursday was the first to appear at Vandenberg Air Force base, which spans 35 miles of coastline in northern Santa Barbara County.

“We have been advised of panga boats… north of the base, south of the base, but never before on our own property,” Col. Nina Armagno said.

 


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Vandenberg Air Force Base personnel discovered an overturned panga boat and at least $1 million of marijuana around 1 p.m. Thursday just north of Wall Beach.

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Nope. You can’t fit 1 million of pot in a panga boat. Not going to happen. But hey, it sounds good for an article. Why not call it 10 million, sounds even better.


Friday, March 8, 2013 by Common Dreams


Sen. Warren: Drug Offenders Go to Jail, Big Banks Working for Drug Cartels Go Free


Regulators let HSBC, which admitted to laundering billions for drug cartels, off with slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, petty criminals and drug offenders face long jail sentences.


– Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer


Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took bank regulators to task once again during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday—pressing U.S. officials over a blatant lack of prosecution for banks such as HSBC, who have been caught laundering billions of dollars for international “drug cartels”.


Adding to her “too big for trial” criticism of the American banking regulation system, Warren stated:


What does it take, how many billions of dollars do you have to launder from drug lords and how many economic sanctions do you have to violate before someone will consider shutting down a financial institution like this?


While officials from the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency squirmed in their chairs, Warren pressed them over the $1.9 billion settlement between HSBC and the DoJ over their money laundering charges—no bank official was criminally prosecuted over a plethora of money laundering charges; nor was their any discussion of shutting HSBC down.


http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/03/08-3