One of the staffers at the centre of an RCMP raid at the offices of two senior cabinet ministers has been fired and the other suspended as links to Paul Martin's new government are unveiled. The focus is on ministerial assistants David Basi and Bob Virk. They were organizers in British Columbia for Martin's leadership bid.

Basi, whose home was also searched, was fired on Monday. Virk was suspended with pay. In a news conference Monday, RCMP spokesperson Sgt. John Ward said several warrants were executed following a 20-month investigation involving the trade of marijuana from British Columbia for cocaine in the United States, which was then sold in Canada.