MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News Update

The new prison block. Insert: The original 30 packages of cocaine

Headlines: Drug importers sent to prison; Chief of Police to be formally reprimanded; Illex slow to reach FI zones.

Drug importers sent to prison

TWO Spanish seamen are the first prisoners to take up residence in the recently completed cell block of the Stanley Police Station extension.

Rogelio Curras Pastoriza (42) and Jesus Carballo Martinez (26), both fishermen from Cangas in Spain and formerly crew members of the Falklands-registered fishing vessel Venturer, were given prison sentences on Monday by Senior Magistrate, Mr John Trevaskis, for ‘the unauthorised importation into the Falklands of an unspecified quantity of a controlled drug, namely cocaine.’

Mr Curras, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment on the importation charge, was also sentenced to a further 16 months imprisonment to run concurrently, on a charge of burglary. This related to the disappearance of 23 kilo bags of cocaine from the police cell in which it was guarded.

While the gross weight of the thirty packets of cocaine seized was around 30 kilos, the court was told that it was estimated that this amounted to around 24 kilos of the drug in a pure state.

At the suggestion of Mr Curras’s defence counsel, the theft of the cocaine from the Police Station was treated by the Senior Magistrate in sentencing, as an attempt to pervert the course of justice, an offence which in the Falklands carries a maximum jail term of two years.

Mr Curras had originally been charged with both perverting the course of justice and burglary, but the first charge was dropped to avoid duplicity. Burglary carries a maximum sentence of ten years in the Falklands, if the building where the burglary is committed is not a dwelling and fourteen years, if it is.

Earlier, counsel for Mr Curras, Liverpool barrister, Mr Nicholas Walker, had suggested that while the theft of the cocaine was an “aggravating feature” of the case, his client should not take all the blame for the systems in place in the police station at the time, which had caused temptation to be put in his way.

Mr Curras was given credit by the Senior Magistrate for making an early guilty plea to the theft of the drugs and for giving information to the police and customs officials, after he had been arrested for possessing one kilo of cocaine. This information led to the discovery of a further 29 kilos under the bunk of Mr Carballo, which had gone undetected by the RAF police sniffer dog. Continued on page 2

Chief of Police to be formally reprimanded

THE disciplinary enquiry into the conduct of the Chief of Police, Superintendent Paul Elliott, following the theft of cocaine from the Police Station last year has been completed.

Two allegations against Mr Elliott concerning his failure to effectively supervise the drugs and prison staff were found to be substantially proven by a disciplinary panel set up by the Government Chief Executive Tim Thorogood. However, the panel also found that there was significant mitigation which should reduce Mr Elliott’s penalty.

The panel recognised that Mr Elliott had a clean and creditable track record and had done much to improve the quality of policing since he had been in command. In addition, the circumstances at the time in relation to accommodation and an inadequately diligent culture in the Police as a whole made it difficult for Mr Elliott to assure the security of the drugs and of prisoners.

Mr Elliott is to be formally reprimanded by the Chief Executive who will set out the high expectations of personal conduct and accountability which are now to be expected of all Police staff.

Mr Thorogood said he had an extensive and very frank discussion with Mr Elliott who has re-assured him that he accepts his accountability for what happened and that he is able to tackle the problems in the service which helped bring about this major failing.

In determining the penalty to be applied to Mr Elliott, Mr Thorogood said he was mindful of his excellent track record and conduct throughout the past very difficult few months. “I am also mindful that I have been presented with evidence of significant failings within the service. These centre on a poor working culture which has developed over many years. There now needs to be a substantial turn-around to this toassure the community that they are well protected.

Mr Thorogood is to prepare a report for Executive Council which will set out the issues and a programme to bring about rapid improvement. He said: “We should remember however that the Police service as a whole has had a difficult few months following other difficulties in the recent past. There are many able and hard working staff who are able to deliver an excellent service, we need to work with these staff to help them do the job effectively.” Continued on page 3

Illex slow to reach FI zones

THE Illex fishery has been slow to start in Falklands waters this year.

Director of Fisheries, John Barton, said this week that the fishery appeared to start normally on the high seas with some reasonable catches in the early part of the year. Catch rates were perhaps a bit reduced on the high seas compared to last year, but nothing too untoward.

He said: “At present there does not appear to have been any great movement of Illex into Falkland Islands zones. Total catches are very low at around 32 tonnes, and customers will inevitably be looking for refunds, if there is no improvement. The previous record for poor performance of the fishery was 2004 when 1,720 tonnes were caught, and the fishery closed early.”

It is not only the Falklands that are suffering from the non appearance of Illex, however. Last week Argentina’s Federal Fisheries Council unanimously voted to close the Illex argentinus fishery south of parallel 46 degrees, as a precautionary protection measure for the Southern Patagonian stock.

Revenue from the sale of fishing licenses has historically been as high as £20-25M. More recently revenue has declined to £12-15M per annum as a result of several very poor Illex seasons. As a consequence of this scarcity of fish, in some seasons the Illex fishery has been closed early to protect stocks and a significant proportion of the license fees has been refunded.