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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMitch McConnell's Freighted Ties to a Shadowy Shipping Company
Before the Ping May, a rusty cargo vessel, could disembark from the port of Santa Marta en route to the Netherlands in late August, Colombian inspectors boarded the boat and made a discovery. Hidden in the ship's chain locker, amidst its load of coal bound for Europe, were approximately 40 kilograms, or about 90 pounds, of cocaine. A Colombian Coast Guard official told The Nation that there is an ongoing investigation.
The seizure of the narcotics shipment in the Caribbean port occurred far away from Kentucky, the state in which Senator Mitch McConnell is now facing a career-defining election. But the Republican Senate minority leader has the closest of ties to the owner of the Ping May, the vessel containing the illicit materials: the Foremost Maritime Corporation, a firm founded and owned by McConnell's in-laws, the Chao family.
Though Foremost has played a pivotal role in McConnell's life, bestowing the senator with most of his personal wealth and generating thousands in donations to his campaign committees, the drug bust went unnoticed in Kentucky, where every bit of McConnell-related news has generated fodder for the campaign trail. That's because, like many international shipping companies, Chao's firm is shrouded from public view, concealing its identity and limiting its legal liability through an array of tax shelters and foreign registrations. Registered through a limited liability company in the Marshall Islands, the Ping May flies the Liberian flag.
The seizure of the narcotics shipment in the Caribbean port occurred far away from Kentucky, the state in which Senator Mitch McConnell is now facing a career-defining election. But the Republican Senate minority leader has the closest of ties to the owner of the Ping May, the vessel containing the illicit materials: the Foremost Maritime Corporation, a firm founded and owned by McConnell's in-laws, the Chao family.
Though Foremost has played a pivotal role in McConnell's life, bestowing the senator with most of his personal wealth and generating thousands in donations to his campaign committees, the drug bust went unnoticed in Kentucky, where every bit of McConnell-related news has generated fodder for the campaign trail. That's because, like many international shipping companies, Chao's firm is shrouded from public view, concealing its identity and limiting its legal liability through an array of tax shelters and foreign registrations. Registered through a limited liability company in the Marshall Islands, the Ping May flies the Liberian flag.
McConnell has positioned himself over the years as a tough on drugs politician. In 1996, McConnell was the sole sponsor of the Enhanced Marijuana Penalties Act, a bill to increase the mandatory minimum sentencing for those caught with certain amounts of marijuana. A press release noted that his bill would make "penalties for selling marijuana comparable to those for selling heroin and cocaine."
In recent weeks, McConnell has touted his role in calling for more federal money to be used for drug enforcement.
In recent weeks, McConnell has touted his role in calling for more federal money to be used for drug enforcement.
http://m.thenation.com/article/186689-mitch-mcconnells-freighted-ties-shadowy-shipping-company
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Mitch McConnell's Freighted Ties to a Shadowy Shipping Company (Original Post)
Ykcutnek
Oct 2014
OP
spanone
(135,888 posts)1. k&r...
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)2. I would LOVE to see McTurtle lose EVERYTHING
Like the average Joe would. Your kids selling weed in YOUR home, gets busted, you LOSE everything even if you didn't know about it. Same should happen to this bastard. But I think McTurtle knew what the Ping May was into.
TexasTowelie
(112,471 posts)3. Oh, oh, oh.
The Ping May is a Liberian vessel. I bet they were also spreading Ebola to the rest of the civilized world. The ship should be quarantined then confiscated.
greatlaurel
(2,004 posts)4. K and R