A Gem from BC Mary
BC Mary has posted information concerning a hearing in yet another ongoing trial related to the infamous raid on the Legislature.
"Oh, god," a Victoria police detective sighed when accused of being partners with his cousin in a drug-trafficking organization uncovered by a skein of investigations that culminated with the raid on the B.C. legislature.
BC Mary has posted information concerning a hearing in yet another ongoing trial related to the infamous raid on the Legislature.
This is the first of several trials that are in the judicial pipeline as a result of what is described as "a monster" of connected but independent investigations 2 1/2 years ago that triggered the unprecedented search of provincial government offices on Dec. 28, 2003.Hie thee on over to Mary's blog to see the rest...
posted by kootcoot at 11:37 AM
12 Comments:
Is Mandeep Sandhu related to Manu Sandhu, the Ministerial Assistant in the Ministry of Children and Family Development?
I ask because the Times-Colonist reported a story 1 month before the raid on the Legislature where a kayak full of marajuana landed at a cove at the foot of her house at Gordon Point Estates, and someone in the Estates aided the kayaker and drugs in getting away.
-------------------------------
U.S. kayaker faces drug charges
Norman Gidney. Times - Colonist Victoria, B.C.:Nov 6, 2003. p. B1
Front
People: Horsley, Chris
Author(s): Norman Gidney
Document types: Crime
Section: Capital Region & Vancouver Island
Publication title: Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Nov 6,
2003. pg. B.1.Fro
Source type: Newspaper
Full Text (696 words)
(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2003)
Police on lookout for second marijuana smuggler following a massive
search-and-rescue effort.
There never were any jet skiers zipping through the cold night in waters near Victoria, but one marijuana-stuffed kayak has turned into two. A young California man also faces criminal charges as police hunt for a second paddling smuggler.
The case has also become a cross-border drug and immigration
investigation, involving the RCMP "border integrity unit" and the U.S. Coast Guard "drug interdiction team." Meanwhile, Canada holds the bill for an intensive but unnecessary air and marine search.
What police believe now was a failed drug-smuggling attempt started as a conventional search and rescue Tuesday morning when a man turned up on a suburban Saanich beach, in the exclusive Ten Mile Point area.
He told a resident that he'd fallen off his Jet Ski in the night after
attempting a 35-kilometre ride from Sidney to Victoria in the dark, with another man who was still missing.
His account fell apart under questioning later in the day, when police
Found his U.S. passport in a kayak "stuffed to the gunwales with marijuana."
That kayak was found grounded on rocks nearby. It also had a battery-powered outboard motor.
The 26-year-old from Novato, Calif., near San Francisco, admitted the
kayak was his, Saanich police Const. Chris Horsley said Wednesday.
"The first kayaker came clean and admitted there was a second kayaker."
He's being held for 48 hours on a Canada Immigration warrant, with the
Clock starting Tuesday night. Investigating officers planned to discuss with Crown counsel charges of possession of marijuana for trafficking, Horsley said.
The unusual story took another twist when a resident of another ritzy
waterfront enclave, Gordon Point Estates, called police after seeing the TV news to tell them of a second beached kayaker who came ashore about the same time as the one initially reported. However this kayaker landed about six kilometres north of the other one.
He came into resident's home, warmed up over coffee and borrowed the
Telephone to call friends to be picked up. The homeowner and other neighbours watched later as two, possibly more, individuals pulled bags out of the kayak and hauled them and the boat away in a vehicle.
Police believe the one that got away was another marijuana smuggler.
They went door to door in the neighbourhood asking residents who may have seen the group, the kayak or their vehicle to call with details.
The cargo of the first kayak was 22 kilograms of what police said was
top-quality hydroponically-grown B.C. marijuana, destined for the U.S.
market. It had a street value of $2,500 per bag, Horsley said, for a total of $120,000.
"It was probably grown right here in Saanich," he said.
Steve Church at the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria couldn't
Estimate the cost of the search. "It would be quite a bit," he said.
A Buffalo aircraft from Comox flew for five hours, a U.S. Coast Guard
helicopter from Port Angeles, Wash. was up for half an hour over the
search zone and five search vessels were on the water after the initial
reports.
One of the coast guard auxiliary vessels, a rigid hull inflatable from
Oak Bay, found part of the marijuana haul, 15 half-kilogram plastic-wrapped portions inside a backpack-sized "dry bag" used in kayaking. It was probably lashed to the deck of one kayak with bungee cords.
Ironically, even though the kayakers, made it to shore they actually may have encountered problems. "It is likely they got into some trouble," Horsley said.
The first kayak was full of water when found and it had probably turned
over at one point.
They were out on the water in a south-flowing ebb tide. "The tides can
be very strong out there," Horsley said.
San Juan Island in Washington state is visible not far away on the east
side of Haro Strait, the kayakers' probable destination. Rumrunners ferried alcohol in these same waters to the U.S. side during the 1920s prohibition era.
[Illustration]
Color Photo: Darren Stone, TC / Saanich police Const. Chris Horsley
Surveys evidence room filled with bags of marijuana worth about $120,000 taken from a kayak at Ten Mile Point.
I should make it clear that Mandeep Sandhu is the man who is charged with drug trafficking (marajuana) in the Basi Boys scandal.
Okay, well according to this other article in the Times-Colonist about the drug smuggling at Gordon Point Drive, the drug smuggler was "Jeff."
-----------------------------------
Drug Smuggling Kayaker Aided by Resident of Gordon Point Estates
Search for missing man yields pot-laden kayak:[Final Edition]
Norman Gidney. Times - Colonist Victoria, B.C.:Nov 5, 2003. p. A1
Front
People: Horsley, Chris
Author(s): Norman Gidney
Document types: Crime
Section: News
Publication title: Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Nov 5,
2003. pg. A.1.Fro
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/
pqdweb?did=443986111&Fmt=3&clientId=5176&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Color Photo: Ray Smith, TC / Saanich Const. Mike Duquette secures a
kayak for towing to the Saanich Police station. The kayak was found loaded with marijuana during a search mission. ; Map: (See hard copy for map.)
Full Text (539 words)
(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2003)
A search-and-rescue operation involving two men who supposedly went out
in the dark from Sidney on personal watercraft turned into a Saanich police drug investigation Tuesday.
A wet and chilly man showed up at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 10 Mile Point area of Saanich, saying he'd fallen off his JetSki the night before.
Const. Chris Horsley referred to the man's "alleged story" of losing his watercraft after leaving Sidney and floating down Haro Strait through the freezing night.
The man said he slept a while on the beach. Another man he knew only as
"Jeff" was still out there, he told police.
Authorities treated it as an emergency and organized a full- scale
search for the other man. They had nearly ideal weather -- sunny, calm and cold.
A Buffalo aircraft from CFB Comox, a coast guard cutter from Saltspring
Island and auxiliary search-and-rescue boats from Oak Bay, Victoria and Sidney were on the water until dark.
Neither a personal watercraft nor a second man was found after the
search of waters between Sidney and Oak Bay.
But a kayak and a large waterproof bag, each full of marijuana, turned
up on rocks just offshore from Ten Mile Point.
A passing sailboater from Royal Victoria Yacht Club discovered the kayak aground in Baynes Channel and brought it into the yacht club. It was turned over to police.
"It was absolutely stuffed to the gunwales with marijuana," said
Horsley.
Oak Bay's sea-rescue group found another part of the haul, a
backpack-sized "dry bag" with 15 large bricks of marijuana. It was found in the same area beside a kayak spray skirt, sitting on rocks and about to be floated away by the rising tide, said searcher Lincoln Turner.
Horsley said the total find was 33 individually-wrapped plastic bags of
marijuana, believed to be one kilogram apiece.
The search was called off just after dark on Tuesday.
"Barring any new information, we're not going to be out searching in the morning," said coast guard officer Darren Morley at the Rescue
Co-ordination Centre.
Authorities don't believe the wet man's story now.
"That fella is still here at the police department. Investigators seem
to be making progress. We're still unravelling," said Horsley.
No charges had been laid Tuesday night. Police were trying to find any
Link between the man, the kayak and the marijuana. The kayak had a small battery-powered electric outboard motor to help the paddler. Horsley said whoever was in the kayak was likely headed over the border to Washington state with the load of home-grown marijuana.
The kayaker probably launched farther north, closer to Sidney where the
crossing to American waters is shorter, and was carried south by the
powerful currents.
"It's not the first time we've investigated someone in a kayak," said
Horsley.
Rum runners used the same waters in the 1920s era of U.S. prohibition.
The cove where the man turned up is seven kilometres from the U.S.
border, which runs down the middle of Haro Strait.
And here is a 2004 article on Mandeep Sandhu and his marajuana grow-op in Saanich. Note that, in the above article Constable Chris Horesly says that the marajuana found in the kayak was probably grown in Saanich. Sandhu's?
----------------------------------
Riding politics linked to raids::[Final Edition]
Judith Lavoie. Times - Colonist Victoria, B.C.:Jan 13, 2004. p. A1
Front
People: Basi, David, Sandhu, Mandeep, Jacques, Les, Bains,
Jagtar
Author(s): Judith Lavoie
Document types: Crime
Section: News
Publication title: Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Jan 13,
2004. pg. A.1.Fro
Source type: Newspaper
ProQuest document 526322311
ID:
Text Word Count 721
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/
pqdweb?did=526322311&Fmt=3&clientId=5176&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Abstract (Document Summary)
Mandeep Sandhu's home on Bremerton Street in Saanich was searched as
part of a
20-month investigation into drugs, organized crime and police
corruption. The
investigation led to the Dec. 28 police raid at the legislature when
boxes were
carted away from Basi's office and the office of ministerial assistant
Bob
Virk.
No one on the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca constituency executive knew Sandhu
and it
has since been discovered that he was not even a member of the Liberal
party,
vice-president Les Jacques said Monday.
Kit Spence, a former Saanich-Gulf Islands constituency association
president,
who also helped out in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, said Basi suggested a
number of
names for the executive and directors, including Mandeep Sandhu.
Full Text (721 words)
(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2004)
Fired ministerial aide pushed selection of man for executive of Island
constituency association
A man chosen by fired ministerial assistant David Basi to be on the
executive
of the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca federal Liberal constituency association
had his
home searched by police two days after the new executive was chosen Dec.
7.
Mandeep Sandhu's home on Bremerton Street in Saanich was searched as
part of a
20-month investigation into drugs, organized crime and police
corruption. The
investigation led to the Dec. 28 police raid at the legislature when
boxes were
carted away from Basi's office and the office of ministerial assistant
Bob
Virk.
Sandhu was questioned, and released without being charged.
Basi has been fired from his job as ministerial assistant to B.C.
Finance
Minister Gary Collins; Virk has been suspended from his Transportation
Ministry
job.
No one on the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca constituency executive knew Sandhu
and it
has since been discovered that he was not even a member of the Liberal
party,
vice-president Les Jacques said Monday.
"Sandhu was a late replacement for someone else. . . . Dave Basi put him
on
there and Basi had signed 400 people up in the riding."
Jacques said Sandhu is no longer a director of the constituency
association.
"He's absolutely off the executive. He had to have his membership a
month in
advance of the (annual general meeting)," Jacques said.
"Dave Basi was the person we made the agreement with."
Jacques said he does not know why there was such an effort to bring in
new
members, as the leadership convention was over and Esquimalt-Juan de
Fuca
delegates had voted for Paul Martin.
Basi is known as a key Martin organizer.
"I think they want to control who the candidate will be (in the next
election.)
I think it's a power play," he said.
Alan Thompson, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca membership chairman and a former
candidate, said he was not aware of any formal deal with Basi and that
longtime
members still occupy the key positions.
But Thompson questioned why such tactics were used to increase
membership.
"It could just be individuals acting to build their power base in the
party,"
he said.
Kit Spence, a former Saanich-Gulf Islands constituency association
president,
who also helped out in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, said Basi suggested a
number of
names for the executive and directors, including Mandeep Sandhu.
A list of names was compiled and there were no challenges, so the list
was
accepted without a vote, he said.
"He (Basi) is a big influential guy. He's responsible for most of those
Indo-
Canadian names on the list in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca," he said.
Phone calls to Sandhu's house were not returned Monday, but his father
confirmed to a CH Television reporter that police visited the house in
December.
The father also confirmed that Sandhu is the cousin of Const. Ravinder
(Rob)
Dosanjh, the Victoria police officer who was suspended with pay Dec. 15.
Victoria police Chief Paul Battershill has said the Dosanjh suspension
is
indirectly linked to the investigation that led to the legislature raid.
Title searches show that Sandhu and Dosanjh own property together.
Dosanjh and Sandhu, who lists his occupation as a courier, jointly own a
rental
property on West Weiler Avenue in Sidney which is assessed at $310,000.
Dosanjh also owns a $261,000 house on Densmore Avenue in Saanich. A home
on
Walnut Street in Victoria, assessed at $167,900, is jointly owned by
Dosanjh
and Jarnail Samra.
Dosanjh and Samra are co-directors of Dosam Developments Ltd., a
business that
operates out of the Densmore Avenue home.
Meanwhile, Jagtar Bains, president of the Saanich-Gulf Islands federal
Liberal
constituency association, wants to assure Liberals that he is not
related to
one of nine men arrested and released as part of the investigation into
drugs
and organized crime.
"Bains is a common name -- like Smith," he said.
Jagtar Bains said he knows the families of many of those implicated in
the
investigation, but he is not related to any of them.
All come from hard-working, honest families, he said.
"And in this country people are presumed innocent until proven guilty."
Bains is also dismayed at the attention being paid to real estate
holdings.
Many Indo-Canadian immigrants invest in real estate, he said.
"We are extended families and it is security for the future."
lavoie@island.net
And I can only find that one kayaker was arrested and charged. The drug smuggler who landed at the foot of Manu Sandhu's house in Gordon Point Estates, Jeff, got away Scot free with the help of someone living in Gordon Point Estates.
-----------------------------------
U.S. kayaker deported following arrest; [Final Edition]
Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Feb 7, 2004. pg. B.3
Document types: News; Brief; Crime
Column Name: Region in Brief
Section: Capital Region
Publication title: Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Feb 7, 2004. pg. B.3
Source type: Newspaper
ProQuest document ID: 545075801
Text Word Count 74
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=545075801&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=5176&RQT=309&VName=PQD
(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2004)
A U.S. man facing marijuana charges here has been deported by immigration authorities. Brooke Johnson, 26, was arrested by Saanich police on Nov. 4, 2003, after he turned up on Ten Mile Point with a kayak full of marijuana. Johnson was escorted to the border after being released from prison on a $10,000 bond. He is required to appear in court here but first will be sent to California where he faces other charges.
So, in summary, Mandeep Sandhu grew dope in the municipality of Saanich.
A kayaker named "Jeff" (according to the arrested drug smuggling kayaker Brooke Johnson)lands at Saanich's Gordon Point Estates where Ministerial Assistant Manu Sandhu's home is located.
A neighbor sees Jeff land his kayak and she/he calls the cops and a local TV station. But Jeff is helped by another neighbor in Gordon Point Estates to escape before the cops come.
The Saanich cops figure the marijuana was grown in Saanich.
It is not reported in the newspaper that Jeff is ever found or ever charged.
Who is this drug smuggler Jeff and was he helped by Children and Family Development Ministerial Assistant Manu Sandhu in escaping police?
bgcauuWhew! This is the kind of input which will help us all in understanding the basic situation surrounding the Legislature Raids.
I appreciate being able to read these press clippings.
- BC Mary.
Shouldn't that be Mano Sandhu?
testing testing this is just a test
testing testing this is just a test
again.................
testing testing this is just a test
again.................
and again................
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