Text: Customs Service Statement on Seizure of Belize-Flagged Vessel

15 May 2001

Text: Customs Service Statement on Seizure of Belize-Flagged Vessel

Boat was carrying cocaine; Russian and Ukrainian crew in custody

The U.S. Customs Service issued a news release on May 14 announcing the seizure of more than 26,000 pounds of cocaine found aboard a Belize-flagged vessel. The ship was manned by a 10-person crew from Ukraine and Russia.

Following is the text of the news release:

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PRESS RELEASE
Monday, May 14, 2001

U.S. Customs Aircraft Helps Locate Fishing Boat Loaded with 13 Tons of Cocaine in Pacific Ocean

Washington, D.C. -- A U.S. Customs radar-equipped P-3 aircraft played a key role in the seizure of more than 26,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on April 28, it was announced today in San Diego.

The 152-foot Belize-flagged fishing vessel, SVESDA MARU, is the second cocaine-laden Belizean vessel in two months to be brought to the port of San Diego. According to Gregory A. Vega, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, the cocaine seized in both cases has a street value of more than $500 million.

The U.S. Customs P-3 aircraft was flying a counter-narcotics detection and monitoring patrol under the direction of the Joint Interagency Task Force West, a Department of Defense agency responsible for coordinating air and marine interdiction activity in the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic Ocean regions.

Following identification by U.S. Customs, the SVESDA MARU was intercepted by a U.S. Navy Guided Missile Frigate with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment (LEDET) team from San Diego on board. The Coast Guard cutter Active soon joined the effort.

After an exhaustive five-day search, the Coast Guard team finally discovered the cocaine hidden in a secret compartment beneath the fish holds of the vessel. A sample of the contraband was subsequently removed and tested. It tested positive for cocaine.

The crew of the Belizean-flagged trawler consisted of eight individuals from the Ukraine and two from Russia. The 152-foot fishing vessel and its 10-person crew are in the custody of the Coast Guard.

A federal maritime task force based in San Diego was created to process, investigate and prosecute such maritime cocaine cases. Task force members include officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

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