Drug War at Sea

On 8 March 1973 the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless (WMEC-624) seized the sportfisherman Big L, which marked this service’s entry into the current ongoing struggle against the importation of illegal drugs. Until that time, various law enforcement agencies had waged this war at the points where drugs entered the country and were distributed ashore. With the apprehension of the Big L, the Coast Guard opened a new front, attempting to cut the sea lines of supply between the Caribbean and South American producers and their distributors in the United States. This would be accomplished by interdicting drug-laden vessels at sea, before they reached U.S. shores.

The events leading to this episode began when Roy Warren, owner of the motor vessel Adventurer 111, contacted officials of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD)—forerunner of the Drug Enforcement Agency—in Miami, Florida. He reported that on 3 January two men had approached him aboard his boat, moored at Watson’s Island, about sailing to Jamaica where he would on-load a cargo of marijuana. Warren would be paid $2,500 up front, and a balance of $15,000 upon delivery.

The BNDD officials convinced him to play along with the scheme, and they went to great lengths to facilitate the endeavor. They helped finance repairs and alterations, outfitting the Adventurer III with navigation and communications gear and even giving Warren $500 to cover his expenses during the trip. In addition, two undercover agents were assigned to accompany him, posing as crew members.

Michael Parks, one of the two men who had approached Warren, met him in Jamaica and took him into the backcountry to meet the men who had secured the contraband shipment.¹ While Warren waited for his cargo, he kept in touch with the BNDD in Miami, periodically passing them the evolving details of the return voyage.

On the way north, the Adventurer III stopped to refuel at Grand Cayman Island on 5 March. Warren called from there to report that the plan had been changed: his boat would no longer be bringing the load into the United States. Instead, Warren was to rendezvous with Parks— who would be aboard the 38-foot sportfisherman Big L—near Riding Rocks, southeast of Miami, close to the western edge of the Bahamas. There they would transfer the load for further transportation to Florida. Although radio communications would be dangerous in the presence of the two Jamaicans who were going to accompany the load, Warren promised to do his best to keep the BNDD informed.

With these new developments, the BNDD was unsure where the load was going to be brought ashore. They needed assistance from an agency with the ability and the authority to conduct law enforcement operations outside U.S. Customs waters. They turned to the Coast Guard.

Arrangements were made for five BNDD agents to board the Dauntless at the Miami Beach Coast Guard Base on the morning of 8 March. A brief disagreement occurred on the ship’s quarterdeck when the agents refused to surrender their weapons, but the misunderstanding was cleared up with the arrival of a supervisory agent. The weapons were turned in, with the promise that they would be reissued prior to the interception of the suspect vessel.² Without further incident, the Dauntless got under way at 1020 and headed southeast at 12 knots toward the rendezvous point.

Preparations for the interception had been thorough. A BNDD aircraft maintained surveillance of both the Adventurer III and the Big L. Coast Guard HH-52 Helicopter 1376 from Air Station Miami was on board the Dauntless, if needed, and a Bahamian Police Force boat was under way. The latter came alongside the Dauntless in the afternoon, at which time the captains conferred, agreeing that the Bahamians would stand off but remain in the area to prevent the Big L from escaping into the Bahamian Territorial Sea.

Supplied with position and identification information from the BNDD aircraft, the Dauntless was able to acquire radar contact on the vessels while staying out of visual range. At sunset the Coast Guard cutter set “darken ship” and closed the distance. The weather was excellent for a boarding: the cloud cover had broken, with visibility about ten nautical miles; winds were out of the east at a light 10 to 12 knots; and seas were a mere one to two feet out of the east. At about 1930, Warren called on the radio. The transfer of contraband to the Big L had been completed. As the Dauntless prepared to rush in, Warren radioed again: the Big L had broken down, and he was going to take her in tow.

The Dauntless had no other recourse than to increase to flank speed and charge in, which she did at 1948. About 15 minutes later, from a range of 600 yards, she illuminated the vessels with her searchlight and navigation and identification lights. Her crew ordered the vessels to heave to. The Dauntless's 3-inch deck gun was trained on the Big L, while every man that could be armed was stationed along the ship’s rail in an attempt to attain “massive intimidation,” and thereby forestall any resistance.³

The Big L was brought along the cutter’s port side, and at 2028, after her crew were ordered to the stem, a four- man Coast Guard boarding party and several BNDD agents jumped aboard. They immediately found a “green leafy substance testing positive for THC.” The Big L’s four crewmen were arrested and the vessel seized in position: 25-29N 079-29W, 35 nautical miles from Florida and 11.9 nautical miles from North Cat Cay, Bahamas.⁴ The Adventurer III was allowed to depart.

The custody crew assigned to the Big L consisted of four Coast Guardsmen and one BNDD agent. Their ride back to Miami was extremely uncomfortable. With only one engine running, they limped toward Miami at five knots, escorted by the Dauntless. Smoke from a smoldering combination of diesel fuel, insulation, and marijuana in the bilges around the engine was blown across the length of the vessel. The Coast Guardsmen climbed above the sickening stench into the vessel’s tuna tower, while the seasick BNDD agent remained below and endured the smoke.

Michael Parks, who had hidden on board the Adventurer III, was arrested the next morning at Watson’s Island. He and the four Big L crewmen were later convicted in Federal District Court of conspiring to import marijuana into the United States. Although four of the defendants chose to appeal the convictions on jurisdictional grounds, the Fifth District Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the lower court.

This case alerted the Coast Guard to the potential payoff of maritime interdiction efforts, and they began to designate cutters to stop the flow of seaborne drugs. As their strategy and tactics improved, interdictions increased, hitting an apex in 1982, when 173 vessels—carrying a record 3.5 million pounds of marijuana—were seized, and over 1,000 persons were arrested. After 1982 the amounts of marijuana confiscated declined: seizures of cocaine, on the other hand, rose steadily. By 1989 the Coast Guard was intercepting almost 33,000 pounds of cocaine annually.⁵ Little did anyone realize that the capture of the Big L would result in an interdiction effort that continues and succeeds today.