|
:: Thar she blows ::
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
As if it weren't expensive enough, here comes a supply-side shock:
The Coast Guard and Navy seized 30,000 pounds of cocaine from a boat off South America's Pacific coast this month in what authorities called the largest-ever seizure of the drug at sea.
On Sept. 17, the USS Curts, a Navy frigate based in San Diego, intercepted the Lina Maria, a fishing boat, about 300 miles west of the Galapagos Islands (news - web sites). A Coast Guard team boarded the boat and found 30,000 pounds of cocaine hidden in a sealed ballast tank.
I have a genuine, sincere question about this - I'm not trying to incite anything, and I'm not being facetious. What right does the U.S. Coast Guard have to stop, search, and seize a foreign vessel in international waters a hemisphere away? The report doesn't indicate the port of registry, but I'd bet it wasn't domestic. Can one of my multiple legal colleagues help a blogger out?
For the record, I'm not saying capturing 15 tons of cocaine is a bad thing, I'm just curious about the jurisdiction.
Posted by morland @ 03:43 PM
:: Comments ::
It's probably the same right that says that we can travel to a sandy arab nation and invade it, under pretenses built upon lies.
And, with the United States being the world's policemen, essentially the whole planet is our jurisdiction, right?
Posted by: the guy who lived in vail on October 6, 2004 05:40 PM
Four more years! Four more years!
Posted by: Alex on October 7, 2004 07:40 AM
and what happens to those 30,000 pounds? well, we're the world's kingpins as well. we just sell it back to 'em at a premium.
USA at the top of its game. chingy would be proud.
Posted by: snoop dogg on October 7, 2004 02:13 PM
in all seriousness, the world long ago set international piracy/terorrism laws on sea. Haven't these been around for hundreds of years? I don't know many more details than this, but i'm pretty sure there is a legal precedent to search and seize suspect boats. Im also willing to guess that the boat in question did not yield to commands to stop or something, and that likely triggered some law about seizing..
Posted by: rob on October 7, 2004 03:26 PM
- Post a comment -
« Solution to global warming by Morland and coworker |
Main
| A plot to die for »
|
