THURSDAY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
Thursday, May 8, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 53 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
Extradition hearing for alleged smuggling boss
Ryan Watson shows off a keychain he made from using a 3D printer. Dave Eagles/KTW
By Jessica Wallace STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
Ian Buemann drags the curser in a loop to form an ellipse. Stretching it down, the laptop screen shows half of a familiar shape. “No,” he says. The symmetry doesn’t align for the perfect heart-shaped design he wants, so he quickly deletes the image and starts again. The seven-year-old is designing a Mother’s Day pendant on 3D-printing software at the Big Little Science Centre. Once Ian is happy with his design, the printer will turn the digital pendant into a reality, layer-by-layer, as plastic chord is added a tenth of a millimetre at a time. Ian is the youngest attendee at the centre’s 3D-printing club. The group is intended for kids ages 10 and older, but Ian has no problem handling the software, navigating through the laptop and finally getting that perfect heart-shaped design. The software seems simple enough to anyone with a bit of tech savvy, but the centre’s executive director, Gord Stewart, sees that standard getting younger and younger. “Most of them don’t know a world without it,” he said. It’s part of the reason the centre is hosting lessons for youth on the emerging technology. “This is a new technology that kids need to know about,” Stewart said. So far, students have been able to take home personalized keychains, spinning tops and
cookie cutters made with help from independent 3D-printing education consultant John Bokla. Bokla began his company earlier this year in the Tournament Capital and has brought a printer to the centre in recent weeks. He sees the technology — and kids — as the future. “The long-term goal is to teach kids the skills of 3D-modelling,” he said, noting many prominent technology-based icons of today became successful before they were 25. While the 3D-printing technology was developed about 30 years ago, Bokla said it’s increasing in popularity because of patent expiration allowing mass production, along with continued decline in costs. He says the technology will sustainably feed innovation by allowing design prototypes to be developed on-site for testing. “This machine is going to democratize design,” Bokla said. “You’re going to start to see 3D-printing stores in local towns in three to five years.” He said a cellphone case could be made in an hour for 25 cents worth of material. And that’s only the beginning. Outside of Kamloops, the medical field is exploring the technology as it relates to human biology, including the printing of human organs. “They’ve printed a functional liver,” Bokla said. Homes are also being built from large-scale printers in China. There is also the potential for legal complications — namely, the production of guns. “With the good comes the bad,” Bokla said. For now, Kamloops youth will have the ability to test out the technology in coming weeks. The 3D Print Club meets Thursdays after school. Find out more by calling the Big Little Science Centre at 250-554-2572.
3D
e r u t u f e h t is
By Tim Petruk
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
A Shuswap man alleged to have boasted about running B.C.’s cross-border drug trade after offering American authorities to roll on other smugglers will soon know his fate. Colin Martin’s extradition hearing began in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Wednesday, May 7. Federal Crown prosecutor Andrew Majawa outlined the case against Martin, who lives in Malakwa. Court heard Martin, who went by the nickname Rolex, led a drugtrafficking ring that moved large quantities of marijuana, MDMA, cocaine, firearms and money between B.C. and Idaho using helicopters and encrypted BlackBerry Messenger conversations. Majawa said a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigation in 2008 and 2009 linked Martin to the operation, which resulted in numerous arrests on both sides of the border. Martin’s company, Gorge Timber, is alleged by American authorities to have leased two helicopters to move marijuana from B.C. to remote properties in northern Idaho
4FOJPS %JTDPVOU &WFSZEBZ
and Washington, near the U.S.-Canada border. Reading from U.S. court documents, Majawa described
apparently has no other legitimate purpose,” Majawa said. “They were never given any permits.”
Accused cross-border smuggler Colin Martin is in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops this week as his extradition hearing began on Wednesday, May 7. Dave Eagles/KTW
READ THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT INDICTMENT AGAINST COLIN MARTIN AND THREE OTHERS ONLINE AT KAMLOOPSTHISWEEK.COM Gorge Timber as a front for the drug ring. The company, owned by Martin and his wife, Jennifer Cahill, has never received a logging permit from the B.C. government, court heard. “The company
Majawa said Martin was directly responsible for organizing the logistics of the helicopter deliveries. He is alleged to have hired pilots and ground crews in B.C. and the U.S. X See U.S. A10