VAASHNAPOOR, DUUREANTA (HARROULE IV) – Acting on an anonymous tip, authorities on the Duureanta colony on Harroule IV conducted a night-time raid on a warehouse facility. Expecting to find illicit narcotics, investigators were surprised when the seized crates contained thousands of leaflets featuring anti-Federation and pro-separatist propaganda.
“Our recon was good and everything pointed to this being a major narcotics move,” said Rafael Cezanne, chief inspector of the Duureanta Narcotics Task Force. “At this point we’re still trying to figure out what to make of the situation.”
A source on the task force who wished to remain anonymous said the main working theory is that a mole within the force alerted the narcotics traffickers who then moved their contraband prior to the arrival of inspectors.
“It wouldn’t be the first time that Serpentis money won over an officer,” the source said.
A second theory being considered is that the tip was merely a ruse to get investigators to “discover” the leaflets and give free publicity to the secessionist movement. Duureanta, which is comprised of about 40% non-Intaki natives, has never seen a large separatist population.
While the source would not comment on the content of the leaflets, enhanced images taken by locals near the scene appear to show copies of “Failure of the Federation”, an essay published some years ago by Saxon Hawke, former leader of the secessionist group Intaki Liberation Front.
When reached for comment, Hawke said he was unaware of the situation on Duureanta.
“That tract has been out in the public sphere for years,” he said. “I’m glad people are still talking about it, but I can assure you that we had nothing to do with this.”
Hawke also pointed out that under the laws of both the Federation and the Intaki Assembly the leaflets were not illegal.
Chief Inspector Cezanne said the leaflets were being classified as “material to the commission of a crime” while the investigation is ongoing. He said if no one comes forth to claim them when the investigation is complete the leaflets will be destroyed.
“If they provide us a link to the narcotics smugglers, great,” he said. “If not, then we will treat them like the garbage they are.”