MP SAYS SHE WON'T RESIGN AFTER HUSBAND'S $15M DRUG ARREST

Opposition MP Pat Gordon-Pamplin said she will not resign nor did she
know anything about her husband's arrest in connection with $15
million worth of drugs destined for Bermuda.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said, in fact, she only found out about Dennis
Pamplin's arrest through the news media on Thursday evening.

Mr. Pamplin was arrested along with a second man, Brian Henry on
Tuesday evening by the New Jersey Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

According to a press release on the DEA website the two men were
arrested after a police dog sniffed out 700 pounds of marijuana hidden
inside concrete pillars at a warehouse in Orange, New Jersey.

Last night the Shadow Minister of Works and Engineering and former
Deputy Leader of the UBP said she could not take responsibility for
someone else's actions.

She said: "There's no more I can say (since Friday). It has to play
itself out. I don't know what else I can say. I am shocked and was
only informed by the news media.

"For those who are asking that I step down, I don't know how I can
take on the action of someone else?"

Also seized from within the warehouse were scales, hydraulic pressing
machines, vacuum-sealing materials, and disc shaped steel moulds.

The drug-bust on Tuesday was the culmination of a year-long
investigation in conjunction with the Bermuda Police Service.

According to the DEA press release, since July 2007, Brian Henry had
assisted Dennis Pamplin in packaging more than 1,000 kilograms of
marijuana for approximately five different shipments to Bermuda. The
street value of these drugs in Bermuda would be $15 million.

Last night Minister of Home Affairs, Senator David Burch commended
both services for continuing to keep Bermuda safe.

He said: "I must commend the BPS and the DEA for their diligent work.
Drugs continues to be a scourge on our society, and thanks to their
joint efforts a large quantity of the substance has been successfully
intercepted and kept out of our neighbourhoods and
communities."

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 US Marshals Service with no
bail and Pamplin was remanded into custody of the US Marshals Service
in lieu of a $3 million personal recognisance bond.