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Langley man charged in cocaine, ecstasy conspiracy JeFF nagel Black Press
Harry HUNT/Black Press
More than 200 classic cars were on display at the 34th annual Aldergrove Lake Picnic, hosted by the FIFTY 5-6-7 Club at Aldergrove Park on Sept. 2.
Coleman will run in 2013 MLA named deputy premier in cabinet shuffle
MLA Mary Polak is now the minister of transportation and infrastructure. Coleman was first elected in 1996, when the BC Liberals formed opposition to then-premier Glen Clark’s NDP governFrank Bucholtz ment. He was re-elected in 2001, Times Reporter 2005 and 2009. “I’m strongly committed to PreFort Langley-Aldergrove MLA mier Christy Clark and the rest of Rich Coleman announced Tues- the BC Liberal team as we seek day morning that he will defi- a new mandate in 2013,” said nitely be running in the 2013 Coleman. provincial election. “When I entered politics in Coleman is currently the min- 1996, I was very concerned ister of energy and mines, and is about the damaging impact of also responsible for housing. NDP policies and wanted my In Wednesday morning’s cabi- children to have a better future net shuffle, Coleman was also in British Columbia. named deputy premier. Langley
“Today, I feel as strongly as ever that my children’s and grandchildren’s future needs to be protected. I’m seeking another term to help ensure that British Columbia’s MLA Rich economy Coleman moves forward not backward.” His announcement comes at a critical time, as three cabinet ministers announced last week they would be stepping aside. They include Finance Minister
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Kevin Falcon and Education Minister George Abbott, who were runners-up to Clark in the 2011 Liberal leadership race. Coleman’s opponents in the 2013 election have yet to be determined. Shane Dyson and Gail Chaddock-Costello, both of whom have run against him before are seeking the NDP nomination in the riding. The BC Conservatives have not named a candidate in Fort Langley-Aldergrove as yet. Coleman told The Times that he decided to run again after “reflecting on what I wanted to do.”
Several Lower Mainland men, including a 38-yearold Langley man, face drug trafficking charges in connection with an international plot to import large amounts of cocaine and ship ecstasy to the U.S. Police in B.C. had been tipped by U.S. drug agents in 2008 that several Canadian and U.S. suspects were using encrypted smartphones to organize drug deals on an international level. The investigation ultimately spanned B.C., California, Mexico and Peru. “We took a significant amount of drugs off the streets during this investigation,” said Sgt. Ghalib Bhayani, spokesperson for the B.C.’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. “The cocaine alone represents a street value (per gram) of over $17 million.” The charges come four years after officers first conducted a raid in Princeton that netted 117,000 ecstasy pills. Subsequent raids in late 2008 uncovered 97 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a truck carrying bananas at the Pacific Border Crossing and 10 kilograms of cocaine in Burnaby in May 2009. continued, PAGE 7
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