[MarkofSeaLife]

USCG busted a 40 foot sailboat with 800 kgs 1729 pounds marijuana 130nms south of Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. A Russian was arrested.

More to follow.

 

[smackdaddy]

That's not rice?????

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

And the Russian wasn't fast enough.


Boom, boom!

 

[SimonV]

I know Russians are heavyweight smokers, but I don't think its a defence.

 

[tdw]

And the Russian wasn't fast enough.

Boom, boom!

thats one way of putin it.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

He only sailed downwind.

 

[goat]

In old Soviet you don't go to party, party comes to you. Apparently that's changed.


goat

 

[Mabinogion]

Perhaps he was off to marry Jo' Anna?

 

[endoit]

Maybe because he was Russian he could not gain entrance to Colorado. Was he or his vessel U.S. Registered? Quantity of drugs aside can the Coast Guard board vessels in international waters and impose U.S. Sanctions? What if he had an once of pot. Would we hear about it then and would his boat be impounded?

 

[krisscross]

Looks like he was planning to take a long, strange trip.

 

[jzk]

It seems that it was pot, and the boat had a Finnish flag.

US Coast Guard seizes $1.6M worth of pot in the Caribbean - seattlepi.com

Is it illegal to have pot on your Finnish sailboat south of the Dominican Republic? What business does the Coast Guard have in seizing that vessel?

 

[safira]

USCG is the big brother of the Carribean, just in case you did not know ....

 

[Mabinogion]

The Big Bro' out there are the cartels, judging by the amounts getting seized. Conservative estimates for ratio of LE seizures to actual amounts smuggled run at 10%, 15% maybe if luck or good Intel. take effect.
USCG as with other LE agencies worldwide play a constant game of catch up.

 

[caberg]

Ridiculous that my tax dollars are paying these yahoos to seize pot (of all things) way outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.

 

[Zanshin]

Your tax dollars are also paying for U.S. military intervention much, much further away than the Caribbean

Interdiction actions there are considered on America's doorstep, since the next stop could be, and probably is, the USA.

 

[dinosdad]

Well, remember the thread about making money while cruising? Slightly different interpretation of "delivery captain".

 

[smackdaddy]

Ridiculous that my tax dollars are paying these yahoos to seize pot (of all things) way outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.

And we don't even get any of it! Outrageous use of my tax dollars.

 

[bljones]

*sigh*... big trouble for moose and squirrel.

 

[caberg]

Interdiction actions there are considered on America's doorstep, since the next stop could be, and probably is, the USA.

I get why they claim they need to do this -- but it is beyond any sense of reason.

Consider that the feds could walk into retail stores in Washington and Colorado (and soon more states) and seize pot to their heart's content. But the Justice Department has (rightly) decided to turn a blind eye (until fed law can sensibly and hopefully catch up).

The disconnect here is mind boggling.

 

[Minnewaska]

Now that there are tax dollars to be had for selling it legally, you can bet the Govt efforts to intercede in the illicit pot trade (ie bootlegging) will only increase. Wait till it goes nationwide.

However, who's to say they knew it was pot anyway. It could have been heroine. And folks, that is a major problem.

I have a family member who is a NY family court attorney. All of her indigent clients have figured out how to be on oxycodone prescriptions for unprovable back pain, etc. Medicade pays for it all. They get addicted, but can sell a couple oxy pills for $20 each, buy an equivalent hit of heroine (both opiates) and use the rest of the money for smokes. Nearly 100% of her welfare clients figure out how to afford a two pack a day smoking habit. That's over 10 grand per year habit for cigarettes in NY.

They'll be looking for heroine for a long time.