SOLDIERS UP IN ARMS OVER FAILED DRUG BUST

Bermuda Regiment commander Colonel David Gibbons is to hold a clear-the-air
meeting with soldiers who are furious at having been forced to take x-rays
after they were suspected of carrying drugs back from annual camp in Jamaica.

The Royal Gazette has been told seven corporals were among the seventeen
soldiers pulled aside and they are so angry that they want to resign their
posts and serve as privates.

The soldiers were detained at Bermuda International Airport on Saturday
night following an intelligence report from Jamaica that some had smuggled
drugs. They were later x-rayed at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

No drugs were found on any of them, although sniffer dogs at the Airport
did detect a smell of cannabis from some of the soldiers.

Col Gibbons told The Royal Gazette last night he was aware that the
soldiers were frustrated and that he was to have a meeting with Police,
Customs, and Labour and Home Affairs to discuss how the matter was handled.

He has already met some senior officers and intends to meet the soldiers,
who have complained about their treatment through their sergeants.

Col Gibbons said: "I am aware that there is frustration and I have met with
some of my senior officers, and I will be meeting representatives from the
Ministry, as well as Police and Customs to go through what happened.

"In the future, there will be further meetings with some of the individuals
to further explained what happened here.

"I can accept that there is frustration, but when we sit down and the dust
has settled, I hope they will understand that because of their positions of
responsibility, it has to be seen that there is no favouritism and the
system is working.

"The fact that they are not guilty is wonderful from my point of view, and
we have to be seen to show that we are not above the law.

"It is my hope that they will understand that, and in talking with the
Ministry, we will be in a position to see what went well - that drugs
didn't get in - and what went wrong, and how we can improve it."

The wife of one corporal told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "All the
corporals are so upset that they don't want to be corporals anymore.

"They want to throw in their stripes and be privates because they feel so
upset and violated. All the guys knew they would get six years if they were
caught with any drugs in Jamaica, and some of those taken aside don't even
smoke or drink.

"My husband and his friends all checked each other's bags because they were
so nervous to ensure that nothing had been planted on them."

The woman said that groups of Regiment soldiers were constantly being
approached by taxi drivers in Jamaica and others offering to sell them
marijuana and ecstasy.

"If it is so easy for them to have access to drugs in Jamaica and they are
worrying about them bringing back drugs, why do they send them there for
training?" she asked.