Drugs found on 'Captain Phillips' ship after two deaths

[okaawhatever]

Source: BBC

Drugs were found in the cabin where two US security workers were discovered dead on a ship made famous in the movie Captain Phillips, says a shipping firm.

Jeffrey Reynolds, 44, and Mark Kennedy, 43, were found on the Maersk Alabama in the Seychelles on Tuesday.

Their post-mortem examination results have not yet been released.

Both men were employed by Trident Group on the ship, which was hijacked by pirates in 2009, later dramatised in last year's movie starring Tom Hanks.

SNIP

"No evidence of physical trauma" was apparent, Seychelles police spokesman Jean Touissant told US media.

Continued at Link:

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26282538

[riderinthestorm]

1. Not surprised. The 2 guys must have been sharing a bad batch of something

[Historic NY]

2. Traces of narcotics and hypodermic needles found with the bodies ...

of two American security officers on the container ship Maersk Alabama suggested the deaths resulted from drug overdoses, a Seychelles government official told CNN on Thursday.
Seychelles police identified the bodies found Tuesday as Jeffrey Reynolds and Mark Kennedy, both 44. They worked for Trident Group, a Virginia-based maritime security services firm, and Trident Group President Tom Rothrauff said both were former Navy SEALs.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/world/asia/seychelles-maersk-deaths/

[okaawhatever]

3. There is something very odd here. Do you think a couple of guys in their 40's could hold a security

job and still be IV drug users? It just seems odd. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I can't imagine someone functioning in their job as a security contractor on a ship being able to pull that off. If it weren't for the close quarters of a ship I could maybe see it but.....hmmm

[Historic NY]

4. I don't know but heroin is making a big come back..

49 yoa NY college professor dies after snorting heroin
http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/here_and_now/article_211c5236-9a4c-11e3-9fef-001a4bcf887a.html

[SoapBox]

5. Ya know...

I thought the same.

[grahamhgreen]

6. And that they both OD'd at the same time...????

[MADem]

10. It could be a conspiracy, or it could be a "bad batch," or it could be the shit they bought wasn't

cut at all, and they didn't realize that and overdosed.

They'd both OD at the same time if they were both shooting up at the same time, after all...

[Jesus Malverde]

18. I'm guessing it was "good shit". They're close enough to the source...nt

[Diamonique]

23. Yeah... the whole thing seems quite odd. n/t

[Jesus Malverde]

7. Two military guys around drugs....no Way!

[leftyohiolib]

12. what are those ?

[Nay]

13. Poppies.

[leftyohiolib]

15. thanks - i wonder how someone got heroin out of that. i mean originally before there was heroin

im sure it probably evolved over time but i wonder how did they find out there was such a powerful opiate in that plant. does just eating it affect you?

[Jesus Malverde]

16. Yes

There are some people who get addicted to drinking a tea you can make crushing up ornamental poppies.

Probably some farmer noticed that his livestock passed out after eating them.

The poppies of Afghanistan are an interesting story. They are not native to the region. They were brought there as part of a USAID project in the 1950's.

[MADem]

21. You can buy opium in the bazaars all over the middle east.

Opium comes from the poppy plant, and when refined, it becomes heroin.

You can also buy "branded" slabs of hashish that were the size of a very large slab of baker's chocolate. I remember seeing Afghani "red seal" and "gold seal" (the latter presumably being of better quality) on fairly overt display here and there.

The use of these drugs only became problematic if the tourist-user decided to bring home souvenirs in bulk, with an eye towards trafficking. Then they ended up in a MIDNIGHT EXPRESS scenario--not a good situation at all.

[MADem]

9. Look at Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He was a working actor/addict.

Also, those guys weren't in tight quarters--they had great berths, I'll bet, with plenty of privacy. The staterooms on those ships are INCREDIBLE (I've been aboard them, I speak from experience). Even the crappiest ship has decent staterooms (you can actually travel on those ships in some circumstances as a civilian--some companies allow non-crew personnel to rent a room and travel with them...no pool, but if you're a person who likes to travel by sea and likes good food, it can be a fun experience). The lowliest deck seaman is berthed in quarters that would be the envy of a mid-grade officer in the US Navy. The officers--shipdrivers and engineers--have staterooms that would be the envy of a four star admiral. They're HUGE, with queen-sized beds and refrigerators and all the comforts of home. Some have BATHTUBS, like you're on a CUNARD line ship!


The culture where those SEALS were most likely deployed when they were on active duty was less attuned to alcohol and more attuned to hashish and opium as "relaxants." If those guys "went native," who knows how they acquired their addictions. This isn't uncommon throughout the region. It's actually kind of surprising, until you realize that the product is a local one and can be had quite cheaply. People don't do a lot of drinking, but that doesn't mean they don't alter their mood in other ways.

Not on point, but tangentially related: There were a shitload of "red card holders" in Iran before the revolution. They were addicts who got their drugs from the pharmacy by showing their red card.

I often wonder how they got rid of those guys? Sent 'em off to be cannon fodder in the I/I war? Dragged 'em off to prison? Shot/hanged them for the crime of addiction? I know that it's all "undercover" these days, but it was less so way back when.

Anyway, drugs in the Middle East and SW Asia aren't as uncommon as people might believe...and they are available if you know where to look.

[okaawhatever]

11. Hmmm...thanks for the info. I remember a lot of VietNam era guys being addicted. I

guess it's from being in a different culture and inability to access alcohol and softer drugs.

[Jesus Malverde]

17. Iran still has a huge heroin problem...nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. As does Pakistan. Afghan opium is feeding junkies from Lahore to London.

[Jesus Malverde]

20. It's always interesting the vacuum of information about the trade

Between the afghan province and the end customer.

Maybe I don't follow it so much but the Mexican/Latin American and Asian DTO's seemed better defined.

[MADem]

22. Yeah, it's hard to know how bad it is because it's all underground now.

It used to be very above board, and it wasn't a big deal. It's been criminalized, and people get hanged for the "crime" of addiction. The government insists it only hangs dealers, but if a user is "problematic," he gets accused of dealing and gets the rope. We aren't saints ourselves, we jail people for the very same "sin."

I just don't get the attraction, but it's obvious that it exists--enough people wanna ride that dragon that there must be something to it for some.

Interesting little article on what goes down in Iran these days vis a vis this topic.

THE Islamic Republic has always had its addicts. Its long border with Afghanistan, the world’s biggest opium producer, and the Islamic stigma against drinking alcohol mean that opium and its derivatives are cheap, strong and readily available. An official youth unemployment rate of 28% and inflation running at 42% a year, both aggravated by American and European economic sanctions, have helped to turn ever more Iranians to hard drugs. According to Iran’s own figures, 2m Iranians in a population of 75m are addicted, the world’s highest incidence. Most experts put the real figure even higher.

Crack (as Iranians call it), a cheap, highly addictive derivative of heroin unique to Iran, is rife in the poorer quarters of Iran’s big cities. Home-produced crystal meth, known as shishe, meaning glass, has also entered the market. It is favoured by many poor and disheartened young men and by many middle-class women trying to stay thin. Last year a member of parliament called for action against beauty and hairdressing salons where meth is peddled to women, who are often unaware what they are buying. A report claimed that courses for teaching people to produce crystal meth at home could be bought for as little as 2-3m rials (then $70-100)....

[Jesus Malverde]

8. “brown powder substances”

According to a portion of the police report shown to a reporter, the authorities found no injuries on either of the men. On a table near the bodies were “brown powder substances” that were “suspected to be drugs.” The two men were taken to Seychelles Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

[penultimate]

14. That's gonna be bad for business...

I don't think I'd want to hire armed guards who are strung out on hard drugs.