First, there is a ship adrift in perilous waters - from the Vancouver Sun:
Tow line to disabled Russian ship snaps but help at hand, crew safe: rescue centre
The tow line attached to a disabled Russian cargo ship off the British Columbia coast has snapped, setting the ship adrift once again.
But Lt. Greg Menzies of the Canadian Forces' Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre says there are three Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard ships on scene and three helicopters on stand-by.
He says the 10 crew members remain on board in no danger and the vessel is about 45 kilometres from shore.
A bit more:
The Simushir lost power Thursday night in rough seas off Haida Gwaii while sailing from Washington state to Russia.
Freshly bunkered so there are 20,000 or more gallons of fuel oil on board. We had high winds on the coast two nights ago and there was a danger that it could have broken up on rocks.
Second - crimes and misdemeanors in a casino - also from the Vancouver Sun:
Millions in suspicious transactions flowed through area casinos in 3-month period, mostly in $20 bills
Gamblers flocked into four Vancouver-area casinos over a recent three-month period hauling bags of $20 bills that added up to millions of dollars in suspicious transactions, according to information provided by the provincial Finance Ministry in response to a freedom of information request from the CBC.
The Edgewater Casino in the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver alone reported $5,242,090 in unusual transactions from March 20 to June 21.
CBC reported that $2.5 million in suspicious transactions occurred at New Westminster’s Starlight Casino, while $24 million was flagged at Richmond’s River Rock Casino.
Police were rarely, if ever contacted, according to the incident reports.
Some more:
On June 1, a patron showed up at the same casino with $100,000 all in $20 bills — a currency frequently used in street-level drug transactions.
In some cases, patrons bought in and cashed out without playing or with very minimal playing.
There were reports of chips being exchanged in washrooms and of bundles of $100 bills being exchanged under tables.
When gamblers use cash transactions at casinos, the source of the money can’t be traced. Gangsters are suspected of using the system to launder dirty money by buying in, then not necessarily betting and cashing out the credit, claiming the income as winnings.
For my store, I am an authorized Western Union agent and we have to do ongoing training for money laundering. They are very careful about this. Someone at the casinos should have raised a flag when this started happening.
At the very least, they could have run a nice little sting operation and gotten a few scumbags off the streets...
