Yes I did have a good time at the Bandits game, even though they lost. Since they are played the Titans who are in the same what ever you call that it is an important game, I guess the teams are pretty tight. With out being a sports writer I would say the Bandits played better then New York and at least sure out shot them but sometimes that just isn't enough you need goals. Well here are some pictures from the game.





































I should mention that the above pictures where from warmups and not the game them selves. Here are some from the game.











































































After the game they played the Sabres on the big screen and people could stay and watch, I headed home. Before the game though I took some downtown shots. I didn't see any of the Tea Party protest thingy though.

So Hopefully that link leads to an interesting story about drugs in Vancouver . I would really like to read a follow up about the BC Bud, but I'm guessing there won't be one about that, it just gets a quick mention. The other day on Facebook I mentioned that I like the show DEA. I think there is a Marathon from about 1pm to 8pm on spike TV. It is a pretty good show. I also said that I don't agree with the drug war. I figured out why I like the show. First of all it is pretty good. Second of all since drugs are illegal there is all this crime and gangs and all the nasty stuff that goes along with things in the street. If you want to kill people over drugs then you should go to Jail and that is why I think the DEA is good. But on the other hand I think the drug war is wrong and drugs should be made legal. I think it would take a lot of the crime out of it and make a lot of people much safer and then you get tax money. In any event for those that don't like to follow links here is the article.

Guns seized by police in Vancouver, Canada, were displayed during a news conference about the city's rising crime rate.
Associated Press

03/29/09 06:35 AM
Increased crime plagues Vancouver
Drugs are source of the problem at 2010 Games site
By Jeremy Hainsworth
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Story tools:


VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With its spectacular bay and stunning, snowcapped peaks, Vancouver ranks as one of the world's most beautiful cities. But in recent months, the people of Canada's Olympic city have been living in fear.

As Vancouver prepares to host the 2010 Winter Games, its crime rate is going up. Since January, there have been 45 shootings in the region, 17 of them fatal. There were 58 homicides last year in this region of 2.7 million people, up from 41 the year before, according to the regional Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

"It's terrifying," said Doris Luong, who lives near the scene of a March 10 double homicide. "This used to be the best city in the world. . . . I fear for my children."

At a nearby elementary school, pupils' movements were immediately restricted as word of the killings spread.

The root of the problem seems to be drugs, or rather a shortage of them.

The Mexican cocaine supply line extends through the United States, especially Los Angeles, up to Vancouver, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Pat Fogarty.

But the Mexican government of President Felipe Calderon has mobilized 45,000 soldiers and 5,000 federal police to curb drug cartel activity. That has driven up the price of cocaine in Vancouver from $23,300 per kilogram to almost $39,000, Fogarty said, and gangs are killing each other.

"People are nervous . . . and so are the police," said Fogarty, head of the regional gang task force. "The public's outraged. The government's outraged."

Vancouver social activist Jamie Lee Hamilton, who lives in Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside, said she no longer has much faith in the justice system.

"I'm really apprehensive about going out in the evening," Hamilton said. "We've turned into an American city."

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan recently called Vancouver the country's gang capital and said the violence is the worst in Canada.

Canada's largest city, Toronto, has seen only 11 homicides this year in a population of 5.1 million, almost double that of the Vancouver region.

On a visit to Vancouver earlier this month where he met with family members of victims, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper proposed a new law that would label gang killings as first-degree murder with a prison sentence of at least 25 years and no parole. The law would also create a new offense with a minimum four-year jail term for drive-by shootings.

Harper has said people planning to attend the Winter Games should not worry about violence, since 15,000 police officers, private security and military personnel are expected to provide security.

Local authorities say they have stepped up actions to curb the gangs and their violence. Police announced the arrests of 10 gang members recently, and four more were arrested on drug and weapon offenses earlier this month.

Police Chief Jim Chu acknowledged the city is in the middle of a "brutal" gang war and said the strategy is to detain gang members on as many charges as possible. However, some of those arrested are being released on bail by the courts.

Mayor Gregor Robertson has said police are fighting a losing battle.

Vancouver may in part be paying the price for some of the very features that help make it so attractive. Rob Gordon, director of the criminology school at British Columbia's Simon Fraser University, noted that the city has a laid-back attitude, easy access to the U. S. border and a vast backcountry with a climate ripe for growing potent marijuana. Police say British Columbia marijuana, known as B. C. bud, is often traded for cocaine, and Vancouver is known for marijuana growing operations.

So I feel as if lately I really haven't had much to say. Yes I have done picture posts and put up some articles about drugs and about how I'm not for the war on drugs and stuff like that, but It still seems like I haven't had anything to say really. So I thought I would post about how I get to sleep in for once. I have a much needed day off. I all ready see that I need to go to a Walgreen's that isn't near me to get my pictures done. I may go to Radio Shack and buy a card reader. As long as I keep things low key I will be happy. Then I will be going to see Lewis Black at Shea's. He is pretty funny and I hope it is a great show, I'm sure it will be. I still don't know what to do about dinner though I really don't. On a side note I'm looking at this mail from Royalcaribbean and there is a cruise I might be able to go on, with tax return money if I ever file. But I don't have a passport so that is kinda out, oh well. On another side note there is a new South Park on tonight, maybe I'll still be up when it is on. Well maybe if I do a review of Lewis Black it will be more exciting then this, I know it will at least be like not as dull.

So first things first I want to say thanks to (e:PMT) for hosting a nice party. It was a good time. I didn't get all of (e:lilho)'s out fit changes. I think you look good in all your pictures so I guess they are all getting posted. I wish when I woke up I knew how to tackle the cleaning of the kitchen I had no Idea where to start to I left. It was so weird when I left because I forgot that price right was opening today. So because of that the lot was packed even cars at the bank and some huge thing. I was not with it enough to deal with everyone. There where lots of (e:peeps) that it was nice to see and talk to it was a good time. Well here are the pictures.















































































































































































































I feel as if this blog should be more then just pictures but other then that I'm not sure what to say really. Well of course Happy Birthday Matt Hope you and everyone else enjoyed it.







































































Well it looks like at the end there is a bonus picture of City Hall Not sure why that is the last shot but oh well. Hope everyone had a great time.

So it was very nice to be able to sleep in on a Friday. I don't think he is but if my boss where to read my blog then thanks. I didn't really have any plans other then to sleep in and then going to The Wizard of Oz. Last week sometime there was a review of it that only gave it 1.5 stars, so I didn't read it, I didn't want to know anything about what was going to go on or have a bad review effect by view of the play/musical . I'm not sure if it would have effected it or not but I didn't want to take the chance. I did feel bad for Shea's because I thought if people read that they might not buy tickets. The last review of something I saw I didn't agree with. The reason is that they compared the show to the same show someplace else. Well if you have a Broadway cast of course the Buffalo won't be as good, because see if they where then most likely they would be on Broadway. The last one I saw was still very good.

Yes they did have pretty Ladies selling Wizard of Oz stuff, I bought a T-shirt and Magnet and thought about Toto but passed. So as I walked in to the seating area it was pretty cool there was someone playing and old looking organ. I don't remember all the songs but there where a couple Beatles songs, looked like it was a young kid. I have to admit that the Wizard of Oz is a weird movie, on its own. But it is very good. But in Musical Form it gets even weirder, but in a good way. I think that as long as you understand that then the Play would be fine. I don't know enough about the arts to know if it is a play or a musical. I think it is a play my self. The reason I say that the way they talk is with talking and not songs. The songs are only the songs in the movie. That was one of things that worried me would they make talking into songs and they didn't. I said how things where kinda weird but in a good way. With the exception of Toto every thing was played by people. The scene where they sleep in the flowers was a popie seed dance scene (but you still knew what was going on), the flying monkey was played by people (cool out fits by the way), The crows where very creepy. Now the munchkins had all sorts of outfits but some of them where taller then Dorothy. That makes sense, yes you can have some kids but where do you get real munchkins these days. Yes there where some pyro and effects. Yes there where parts that where funny. All in all it was very good, everyone should go see it. Well that assumes you like the wizard of Oz. That being said I should mention that is the first play I have seen that uses video. Yes they had two screens that I could see. When things start out there is a house set and then in the background the have the land and moving trees on the screen as a background. They also do this at the end of the show when they look at a wind mill. When the two screens are the most import is when the twister comes. Dorothy is in the house and you see the storm around her and it really looks pretty cool. You see the old lady go by on the video screen and a bolt of lighting turns her into the witch. I like the use of video, to me it is new but maybe it has been going on for a long time and I just haven't seen a production that uses it. I thought it was very good. Oh if you have seen Wicked forget about for one night and enjoy this and then after the fact combine the stories. Since I bought stuff I didn't go to Diablo it would have been a great time. Sometimes I wish I lived downtown could have dropped the stuff off at my place and then gone over there, but I don't so.........

a/k/a Tommy Chong. Is a movie I have wanted to see for some time. I missed it when it was first on Showtime. I watched it on Sho On Demand yesterday. I found it pretty interesting. You do find some stuff out about him I had no idea of. It isn't only about his arrest for selling bongs over the internet, but that is what the story mainly focuses on. It is a documentary and does star him. Some times it doesn't. It also has footage of him doing some stand up, that is pretty good. Of course it does get into politics. Hey how can it not he got arrested not for weed but for selling bongs over the internet to the DEA, it is pretty interesting.

The other movie I watched was also on showtime. 3:10 to Yuma. For those of you who know about movies yes it is a remake of a very old movie. I never saw the original so I can't say if the story is the same. Yes it is a western so you have lots of shooting and that kind of thing. But it isn't only that. Yes Russell Crowe is in it and he has great dialog. Batman I mean Christan Bale is in it also, and other people who I know there face but not there name. I thought the acting was pretty good my self. There is a twist that well I would call it maybe a double reveal towards the end that I won't give away. The general story is this. Bale owes people money, it is post civil war in AZ. The Railroad wants his land. He and his family are out and about when they witness the tail end of a stage coach robbery (that entire scene was so good and so violent with lots of shooting). Bale's live stock get used by Crowe so he lets him have it back and takes the family horses. Eventually it turns out that they catch Crowe in town and they need another man to help get him to this town where he will catch the 3:10 to Yuma (it is a prison where he will be hung). From there more chaos takes place and fight scenes and his gang tries to rescue him. I think it is pretty good. There are some bible references in the movie to. I like that the bad guy can " " it that is kinda a cool touch. All in all a great movie with a different kind of story line, where "The Good Guy" isn't really the Hero and where "The Bad Guy" doesn't just kill everyone. I say two thumbs up or maybe 3 out of 4 stars.

Hope everyone has a great weeked!!!!!!!!!!

So Hope everyone had a great St. Pat's and Hope you continue it at (e:Matthew)'s Party on Saturday Night. Last night on Showtime I watched an interesting Documentary called "A Bronx Dream". It is about a Public School where they Teach Irish Dance. At first you might think why would blacks and latinos like Irish dance. The next thought would be, well people who aren't black take African Dance, and dances from other parts of the world so then it makes sense. That point is never even mentioned in the movie. One of the reasons is that it is a multicultural area. Well back to the show. If I understood how the program started was the teacher was a music teacher and she had a river dance or one of those types of posters and a kid asked what it was, so she showed them some steps. This teacher not only taught them dances but music and how to say things in Gaelic. The Show also followed them over to Ireland where they dance for the president of Ireland. The show also showed some of the families. I found it interesting. Oh yeah the kids where pretty good also, even if other people made fun of them (one boy was also into sports).

So since today is the Holiday Happy St. Patrick's day. Before I get to the events of the day I'm not your Normal Irish Guy. That is right, I don't like Corned Beef or really any kind of meat that has that same kind of taste to it. I don't like Cabage. I don't really like Irish Music. That being said when it is used in Rock for bands like Flogging Molly and Jackdaw and a Couple other famous covers it is pretty good. St. Patrick sent out the snakes. But Guess what I like Snakes. I'm not saying I want to pick them up and Pet them but snake skin looks really nice on them not as like boots, but the fake stuff on sneakers is cool. I know well enough to stay away from snakes since I don't know what ones will kill you or at least try to. In my Basketball days I was a Lakers not a Celtics Fan. But I liked House of Pain. I liked the show The Black Donnolly's that was pretty good. I don't like Beer. But I really do like Potatoes , yum.

Ok so if you read my previous post I left off with pictures during the Parade. Here are some more of them.
















































































































So then After the Parade it was over to (e:PMT)'s. I can only say what I was a party to. Lets see there where horses out side, wrestling, going up on the roof, hanging out, (e:terry) passing out and getting drawn on, relaxing out side in the sun. I think that about sums it up Here are the pictures of those things. Oh yeah and the food was pretty good, thanks.







































































































I just wanted to add that it was a nice little (e:peep) gathering that turned out pretty well I think. Oh there is one funny thing I forgot about but if you see the picture you will notice someone pulled up and blocked the drive way to drop a kid off at the church as we where all sitting out side in front of the house, how strange. Hope everyone has(d) a nice Holiday, and again thanks (e:pmt) .

I will admit sometimes I don't deal with change the best. I'm not saying I can't handle it or anything but sometimes it is tough. But then other times it works out great. This year it worked out pretty nice. I just wish I budgeted my time better so I could get Some Mike's, wait I should have just slid into that store, do'h.

Here are some Pictures from before the Parade.
























At some point here the Parade will start just not sure where. These photos more get the atmosphere. One reason for that is often the cops make the people in the street move back. It was really packed I I didn't think I had a chance to even get close. I also didn't want to get forced back.


































































Oops I double posted a few pictures sorry, That is one reason why I don't like Discs vs. on the computer. (e:strip) for what ever reason at least on firefox doesn't preview pictures that are on a disc and I have no idea why. Ok back to pictures.

















































































































































Well I did wind up getting closer as you can kinda tell from the photos.
































































Well it is tough to know where to end a journal and start another one but seeing as my internet is starting to act really slow now would be a good time. I just want to add that coming up in the next post is why I'm glad I didn't drink to much. I wouldn't want to wind up passed out Like (e:Terry) or be worried about falling off the roof or something.

Here is an interesting article on Drug bling From the Buffalo News. It isn't to long and it talks about a drug bust or just read it here.

A diamond-encrusted Breitling wristwatch, valued at $148,000, was seized in Kenmore.

Updated: 03/15/09 07:44 AM
Bling, other assets total $1.2 million in drug raids
By Dan Herbeck NEWS STAFF REPORTER


Times are tough these days, and many people struggle to make ends meet.

But one small group of people - some of the main players in the Buffalo drug gang known as 31 - has been enjoying some prosperity, at least until a Feb. 26 drug raid, authorities say.

More than $1.2 million in drug proceeds - ranging from a $148,000 diamond-encrusted wristwatch and other flashy bling to $215,000 cash found in a car-have been seized in the investigation, according to the FBI-led Safe Streets Task Force.

"Some of the people in this particular group were doing very well financially," said James A. Jancewicz, an FBI special agent with the task force.

The veteran investigator also was quick to point out that the life of a drug dealer involves more than flash and glamour.

"Many of the people involved in drug dealing are eventually going to wind up going to prison or getting killed by other dealers," Jancewicz said. "It's a high-risk profession."

Law enforcement officers define bling-also known as bling-bling- as the gaudy jewelry worn by some celebrities and also by some drug dealers. But investigators noted that many other drug dealers try hard to avoid the spotlight and never wear ostentatious jewelry or clothing.

Thirty-three people were arrested in Western New York and one in Reno, Nev., in connection with allegations of cocaine- trafficking and money-laundering by the 31 gang. Only a handful of the defendants is believed to have accumulated expensive possessions.

The more than $1.2 million in seized valuables is an unusually high amount for a Buffaloarea drug case, agents and prosecutors said. According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Kurt P. Martin, the items include:

> A Breitling wristwatch, encrusted with diamonds and valued at $148,000, was found in a couch cushion at a suspected dealer's "bachelor pad" on Victoria Boulevard in Kenmore. Other bling discovered at the same location includes another expensive watch with numerous diamonds and an ornate necklace - also with diamonds - with a huge diamond-studded medallion bearing the initials "GR."

The jewelry is believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

> An $84,000 2007 Mercedes- Benz sedan found in a garage on the Victoria Boulevard property. Eric Marshall, described as a cocaine supplier for the gang, owned the car and much of the jewelry, authorities said.

> $215,000 in cash found Feb. 17 in a car owned by Marcus Chambers, an accused drug dealer. Police seized the cash in Mentor, Ohio, near Cleveland.

> $170,000 in cash seized Dec. 11 from a safe deposit box in a North Buffalo bank branch. Agents say they believe the cash belonged to Glance Ross, an accused dealer, and that the box was rented by former Syracuse University basketball star Damone Brown.

> More than $90,000 cash found in other locations during the Feb. 27 drug raids.

For anyone who thinks the life of a drug dealer sounds like an exciting opportunity, Jancewicz cited the example of David Howard, 36, of Buffalo, a defendant in the case who faces three felony drug charges.

"On Sept. 12, David Howard was shot five times in the chest outside a drug house on Shumway Street," Jancewicz said. "He survived and recovered. . . . But now, he's in jail."

Authorities said federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of all the cash, jewelry, cars and other items seized during the investigation.

"Ultimately, we expect that all the money we get from these forfeitures will come back to law enforcement agencies," Jancewicz said. "It will be used for paying overtime in investigations, buying high-tech equipment, paying for training and other crime-fighting uses," he explained.

dherbeck@buffnews.com

I liked the story and look at it as a different take on the War on Drugs.

So for any of you who might be reading this and don't know this I'm Pro Drugs. I don't mean that I think everyone should go out and do them. But if it is legal to drink why not smoke some pot. I'm guessing alcohol has killed more people just with drunk driving then weed ever has, but again it is just a guess. But if one is legal why isn't the other? But my stance on drugs isn't really the point of why I'm posting so let me stop it there. Before I read my e-mail I saw this interesting article on drug confessions on TV. I think it is a pretty good article. It does show how big time the drug Business is. That is correct if anyone from AP is reading this I didn't write it and the article gives you guys credit.

TV confessions unveil Guinea's narcostate identity


By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press Writer - 41 mins ago
Ousmane Conte, son of Guinea Conakry's late president Lasante Conte, sits in AP - Ousmane Conte, son of Guinea Conakry's late president Lasante Conte, sits in detention at the gendarmerie ...

CONAKRY, Guinea - When planes loaded with cocaine arrived, Guinea's presidential guard secured the cargo. Drug deals were conducted inside the first lady's private residence and in the president's VIP salon at the airport. To avoid detection, cocaine was sent to Europe in the country's diplomatic pouch.

As the people of Guinea sit transfixed before their TV sets, top government officials one after another are confessing to their role in a lucrative international cocaine trade. Organized by a military junta that seized power three months ago, the confessions offer unprecedented insight into an exploding drug trade in West Africa, one that connects coca leaves grown in South American fields to cocaine in European discos.

The confessions paint a picture of an illicit trade conducted with total impunity, with the help of officials, members of the president's family and security forces. They also show the large role Guinea and other West African countries are playing as drug hubs, and how vulnerable they are to the corrupting influence of drug dollars.

A recent United Nations report found that at least 46 tons of cocaine have been seized en route to Europe via West Africa since 2005, bringing profits that sometimes exceed the entire defense budgets of countries it passes through. Before that time, less than a ton a year was seized from the entire continent.

"The vast majority of cocaine that is destined for Europe is now going through West Africa," said Michael Braun, who was the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's operations chief when he retired in October.

___

For years, the drug trade was an open secret in Guinea. The inner circle of former dictator Lansana Conte, who ruled Guinea for 24 years until his death, was deeply corrupt, with officials driving opulent SUVs in a capital where most people live without electricity.

Conte died in December. A day later, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, a junior army officer, grabbed power in a coup and promised to crack down on corruption, including on the flagrant drug trade. So far, more than a dozen people have been arrested, but Dadis has failed to arrest well-known members of his own military junta who are believed to deal in drugs.

The confessions began two weeks ago on state television in what is now known in Guinea as "The Dadis Show," broadcasts that have caused a spike in TV viewership and are the constant topic at lunch and over coffee.

First up was Ousmane Conte, the feared eldest son of the deceased dictator, who was untouchable under the previous regime. He admitted what everyone in Guinea knew but did not dare say.

"I acknowledge that I was in the drug business - and I regret it," said Conte, whose confession was taped inside his detention cell.

In a jailhouse interview this week with The Associated Press, Conte explained how he did it. He said a friend brought in "medicine" for his humanitarian foundation, using a Red Cross plane that landed at night at the international airport in the capital, Conakry. When the plane arrived, his friend called to wake him. Conte then went to the airport accompanied by the presidential guard to secure the cargo, he said.

Conte claimed he did not know at first that the cargo contained cocaine. But his friend later told him, he said, and Conte accepted a $300,000 bribe.

Other officials confessed to equally bold behavior.

The late president's brother-in-law said he met with Latin American drug dealers inside a villa owned by his sister, the former first lady. The head of the country's intelligence unit said he personally accompanied a convoy of trucks containing drugs to the capital. The former head of the police force was challenged to account for the source of funds for a university he is building.

Even the former head of the country's anti-drug unit was interrogated on state TV for his alleged role. The unit was in charge of seizing drugs when a cache was found. But instead of securing and destroying the drugs, the cocaine was often "recycled," said top police officials and foreign diplomats.

A junior police officer said that on one raid, they discovered a 40-foot container filled with cocaine wrapped in plastic. There was so much that the police could not load it all into the two pickup trucks they had brought, said the officer, who asked not to be named because he was committing a crime.

In the confusion, he said, he hid one of the plastic-wrapped sachets of cocaine inside his uniform. He sold it to a buyer at the port, who gave him $15,000. He bought a used car, a TV set and the latest generation Nokia cellphone. He also paid to send his mother, a Muslim, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

He's not proud of what he did, he said. But he pointed out that his theft was miniscule compared to that of his superiors, several of whom stole enough to buy themselves newly-imported Toyota SUVs.

"Eighty percent of the men in uniform lived off of this - it wasn't just me," he said. "It was everyone."

The anti-drug unit eventually gained such a reputation as a place for easy money that it began to receive transfer applications from other police departments, said current director Moussa Sakho Camara, who was brought in late last year after the former director was sacked.

Camara said that when he took over, a large number of officers drove imported SUVs - $50,000 cars that would have taken over 50 years to buy on an officer's $100-a-month salary. So, in an effort to stop officers from driving their drug trophies to work, Camara ruled that only he could park in the anti-drug unit's parking lot.

___

The drug business in Guinea feeds into a much larger trade that brings cocaine from South America into Spain and Portugal to serve a booming European market.

As the cocaine market in the United States matured, drug traffickers turned to Europe instead, according to a U.N. report released in October. Over the past decade, cocaine use in Spain and the United Kingdom has grown three and four-fold. One kilogram of cocaine in Europe now sells for twice as much as in the United States, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

To get the cocaine to Europe, traffickers first smuggle it to Africa's west coast, located directly across the ocean from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, home to the world's entire crop of coca leaves. They bring it in freighter ships and in small, two-engine planes that land at night on deserted air strips. Once ashore, it is parceled out to hundreds of drug dealers, who smuggle it north on boats, in planes and in their own intestines.

In a report earlier this month, the U.S. State Department said cocaine smuggling through Venezuela alone has shot up fivefold since 2002, from 50 metric tons to an estimated 250 metric tons in 2007. It said a rapidly increasing percentage of the flow has begun to be shipped and flown to West Africa, notably to Guinea and Guinea Bissau, and then on toward Europe.

The countries dotting Africa's Atlantic Coast are so mired in poverty that their people - including the governing elite - are often tempted into the drug trade. Guinea alone was the embarkation point for 221 couriers detected since 2006, the single largest national total in the region, according to the U.N. report.

"Africa is under attack," says Antonio Maria Costa, who heads the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

The biggest entry points in Europe are Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom, but the trade is widespread. In Switzerland alone, the U.N. report noted, 60 percent of foreign drug traffickers arrested were West African.

It's unclear if the crackdown in Guinea will succeed in dislodging the cartels. Even if it does, experts say, the trade will simply move to neighboring countries.

Next door is Sierra Leone, where last June a Cessna piloted by a three-man crew from Latin America was stopped with 700 kilograms of cocaine. To the north is Guinea-Bissau, from where in 2006, 32 people carrying cocaine boarded the same flight for Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

But already, the people of Guinea are realizing how much their economy depends on drugs.

Nigerians who acted as go-betweens in the drug trade used to spend freely in Guinea, but they are now gone. Business is down at the capital's discos, where the Nigerians used to order multiple rounds of drinks. For Guineans, a bottle of champagne is worth three months' salary.

Their apparent departure is also being felt at a downtown intersection, where a 14-year-old boy sells telephone charge cards. "Before, selling cards worked. The Nigerians would buy 10 at a time," said Mamadou Diallo. "Now I'm hardly selling any."

There are fewer SUVs, and those who drive expensive cars feel they have been put on notice.

The police officer who admitted to stealing cocaine said he now takes public transport to work. He answers his calls on a beat-up Nokia, and handed over the new one he bought with the cocaine money to his girlfriend.

"Everyone knows that a Guinean can't afford these things," he explained, his knees twitching under the table. "Everybody is afraid. No one could have imagined that they could arrest these people."

____

Associated Press Writers Veronika Oleksyn and Bill Kole in Vienna, Frank Bajak in Bogota, Paul Haven in Madrid, Barry Hatton in Lisbon and Clarence Roy-Macaulay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, contributed to this report.