Peter Binose: Mount Coke, or a Mountain of Cocaine, Ask Ralph?
By Peter Binose
Mount Coke as most Vincentians know is on the hill adjacent to Argyle, with its lovely little Church, now short of a few worshippers after the government pulled their houses down and stole their land to build the airport.
I wrote a series of articles regarding smuggling cocaine through the new Argyle Airport and others. Some were annoyed with me and wrote stiff comments of reprimand. Those articles spun around the world in a short time.
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Letter%3A-Is-cocaine-the-real-reason-for-St-Vincent’s-Argyle-International-Airport%3F-29124.html
http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/peter-binose-is-this-the-real-reason-for-saint-vincents-argyle-international-airport-cocaine/
http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/peter-binose-trailing-the-cocaine-route-through-saint-vincent-and-the-grenadines/
Ricardo Swire wrote this on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/st-vincents-argyle-international-airport-mystery-ricardo-swire
The Venezuelan aircraft that the drugs were found on may have been a regular visitor to our airport at Arnos Vale. The questions I would like to ask are, has prime minister Ralph Gonsalves and/or his wife Eloise Gonsalves or Storm Gonsalves [alone], ever flown on that aircraft. If so why? when? from where? and where to? Also have they ever flown on any aircraft supplied by Venezuela or a Venezuelan, applying the same questions?
Apparently Venezuelan government owned aircraft and that includes those belonging to the oil company PDVSA [they have a local office in Kingstown] are never searched. I suppose that is kind of normal in the banana republic’s because PDVSA airplanes are never searched when they land or before takeoff from Saint Vincent’s airport either.
My worry is that Gonsalves dynasty family members may have been unwittingly used to move narcotics. They may have been used as a diplomatic shield unsuspectingly. Remember our PM and his family is highly respected not just at home but worldwide. No one would ever suspect them of transporting drugs or being on a drug carrying aircraft. Nor would anyone ever suspect them of anything illegal.
Another question I would like to ask is where is the $400 million that comrade Gonsalves bragged about prior to the December 2015 elections. He said he had it available. So where was it? where did it come from? and where has it gone to? You mentioned it comrade so you must have the answers, because in generality you have the answer to everything. Perhaps we could also ask Julian Francis another of the family dynasty he sometimes has a few snippets, the man who you once said comrade has more money than most small countries.
The longtime allegation that Venezuelan government officials are deeply involved in illegal drug trafficking got an airing in U.S. federal court last week. When the two nephews [one her adopted son] of Venezuela’s first lady were found guilty on Friday on U.S. charges that they tried to carry out a multimillion-dollar drug deal to obtain a large amount of cash to help their family stay in power.
Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores [adopted son of the Maduro’s], nephews of Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, were convicted by a federal jury in Manhattan of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
After being arrested Preident Maduro’s adopted son Campo indicated to DEA agents that the cocaine deal was to fund the congressional campaign of his step mother Cilia, wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Flores and Campo’s case is one of a series of enforcement actions and investigations by U.S. authorities who have linked people connected to the Venezuelan government with drug trafficking.
When the two nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were convicted Friday night of a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States a jury in the Southern District in Judge Paul Crotty’s courtroom delivered a verdict of guilty across the board against Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas.
The verdict came despite the revelation midtrial that a major Drug Enforcement Administration cooperator continued to talk drug deals, and lie about it—even while behind bars—while working for the DEA. This forced a prosecutor, in front of the jury, to tell the cooperator on the witness stand that the government was “ripping up” his agreement “as we speak.”
The two were interviewed separately on the DEA plane [Ref: Calzadilla, Tamoa 23 July 2016]. Campo stated on the DEA plane that he was the adopted step son of President Maduro and that he grew up in the Maduro household while being raised by Flores [Refs: de Córdoba, José 11 November 2015 New York Journal & [Llorente, Elizabeth; Llenas, Bryan 11 November 2015, Fox News Latino]. He was also shown a picture of a man with a kilo package of cocaine replying “That’s me” and when asked what was in the package he said “You know what it is” [Ref: Calzadilla, Tamoa 23 July 2016]. The two men possessed Venezuelan diplomatic passports but did not have diplomatic immunity according to former head of DEA international operations Michael Vigil [ Blasco, Emili J. 19 November 2015 & New York Times, Goodman, Joshua; Caldwell, Alicia A.; Sanchez, Fabiola 11 November 2015]. A later raid of [the home of the Moduros adopted son] Efraín Antonio Campo Flores’ “Casa de Campo” mansion and yacht in the Dominican Republic revealed an additional 280 lbs of cocaine and 22 lbs of heroin, with 176 lbs of the drugs found in the home while the remainder was discovered in his yacht [Ref: Fox New Latino. 13 November 2015].
So you see what we have got to worry about in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, if you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas.
END
DISCLAIMER: The opinion, belief and viewpoint expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinion, belief and viewpoint of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com or official policies of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com
IMAGE: TravelPulse Airport
