19 November, 2013: US Television crime series come to life in Basel; FC Zurich Hooligans to Stand Before Judge for their Misdeeds; A peaceful resting place for a load of old bones

A 36 year old man took a page out of the American television program "breaking bad" by cultivating marijuana to support his family. Unfortunately, this Wednesday, the man will face trial and sentencing at the criminal court. As reported previously on The English Show, the father of three was busted last year after plants worth approximately 1.5 million francs were found in two rented cellar apartments. Apparently, one of his landlords noticed the constant marijuana odor emanating from the basement and notified authorities.

When his operation was shut down by the police, the man revealed his tale of woe: a back injury in 2004 which prevented his return to work and a disability pension of 5000 francs per month which didn’t seem to cover his family's cost of living. So, in 2006 he turned to cultivating hemp in a basement apartment with an investment of 10,000 francs. by 2009 he had expanded to another location and by now lovingly caring for at least 300 plants. Authorities estimate that while he was in business his operation allowed the man to harvest and sell some 95 kilos of grass with a street value of one point three million francs.

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And authorities in Basel are bracing themselves for a whole new threat taken straight from scenes out of another TV series – Sons of Anarchy. The alarm was raised after a Dutch Hell’s Angels-type Rocker group announced they’re to set up a new chapter right here in town.

The group calls itself Satu-darah MC and the move into Switzerland has already been announced on a number of internet sites. A former German police officer who’s made a study of Rock gang culture described the group as the most dangerous of its kind in Europe, adding that their hallmarks are the aggressive tactics they use to expand their territory - with the aim of taking over local drug dealing and prostitution businesses. Their usual formula is to recruit people with immigrant backgrounds and then set them to work. The expert went on to explain that right from the start when Satu-darah moved into Duisburg a year and a half ago, they became involved in a number of violent confrontations with the town’s existing  Hell’s Angels group. He says that some of these exchanges involved the use of guns and even hand grenades. The only way to take them on, he says, is to take steps before they become established – something the authorities in the Ruhr Valley clearly failed to do.

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Not for the first time The English Show is reporting a hold-up in a local petrol station. The most recent incident happened in Aesch on Saturday night. While one attacker kept a lookout at the door, his accomplice pulled a weapon and threatened the shop assistant as he demanded money. It didn’t go all their own way, however. When a car pulled up outside the masked duo made off on foot empty-handed.

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And police are eagerly trying to piece together exactly what happened at 8.30 on Sunday morning when a car did a U-turn in order to avoid a traffic control point near the Schlachthof, just this side of the French border  on the way to the airport. During the chase that followed, the car struck a wall inside the Horburg Tunnel en route to Klein Basel, before coming to a sudden halt perched on top of a huge piece of concrete.

Nobody was injured and the 23-year-old woman driver was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs – although tests on her 5 passengers told quite a different story. Police say they’re now looking at the possibility of a changeover of driver at some stage before coming the chase came to its spectacular end.

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The 10 day trial began yesterday for 17 alleged hooligans charged with the chaos and damage caused during a riot at November 2009's knockout round game between FC Basel and FC Zurich. The anarchists - ranging in age from 22-41 - are being held to account for wrecking parts of the stadium, the cost of clean-up and the damage to a train carrying homeward-bound Zurich fans after the game - trashed by enraged Basel supporters that pelted the train with a variety of missiles in a retaliatory rage.

The night had already begun on an ugly note when approximately 1500 Zurich fans marched on the entrance of the Sankt Jakob stadium - some without tickets, and attempted to scale the fences to gain entrance. When police responded, the fans became enraged and destroyed food stands, toilets and stadium seating, throwing the damaged equipment at security personnel. The prosecution is seeking fines and possible jail time in addition to reparation costs of 100,000 francs.

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Not many people know this, but the Basel land community of Aesch is the proud home of one of the world’s largest collections of human bones and skeletons – no less than 8 thousand cardboard boxes - and all of them unburied. And that seems to be part of the problem, since most of these human remains are held in storage in the basement of a sports hall. Other parts of the collection are being held in dilapidated buildings rented from the local Gemeinde. Sadly, though, politicians planning a new housing development in the town say that the presence of the archaeological collection will deter new residents.

Not dismayed, however, the local council is looking for a creative solution so they can provide a new home for the collection in the area, complete with modern storage and research facilities and its own academic curator.

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