Pubdate: Tue, 15 May 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

HUGE DRUG HAUL SHOWS SMUGGLING'S NEW TRENDS

Cocaine: Officials Point To Record Maritime Seizure As Evidence That 
Illicit Operations Are Growing More Elaborate And Using The Pacific Ocean 
As A Route.

SAN DIEGO -- Officials announcing a record seizure of cocaine Monday said 
the haul--13 tons in a trawler crewed by Spanish-speaking Russian and 
Ukrainian sailors--illustrates some of the latest trends in drug smuggling.

The Coast Guard and other agencies are seeing larger loads, more creative 
attempts at concealment, crew members from outside South America, and 
increased use of the Pacific as a drug-running route since interdiction 
efforts in the Caribbean have increased.

"It's a cat-and-mouse game," said Vice Adm. Ray Riutta, commander of the 
Coast Guard's Pacific Area. "They're becoming bolder, more desperate."

At 26,397 pounds, the clandestine cache aboard the Svesda Maru, a 152-foot 
trawler flying the flag of Belize, is the largest drug seizure in maritime 
history, officials said at a dockside news conference.

The cutter Active towed the trawler to the Coast Guard dock at the 32nd 
Street Naval Station on Sunday. The trawler had been stopped 1,500 miles 
south of San Diego under terms of an international drug-fighting agreement.

Officials are exploring whether there is a connection between Russian 
organized crime and Tijuana's murderous Arellano-Felix drug cartel.

With more than four months remaining in the fiscal year, Coast Guard and 
Navy interdiction efforts have resulted in the seizure of 110,000 pounds of 
drugs, approaching the 122,000 pounds seized during the 12 months of the 
previous fiscal year.

On March 4, another Belize-flagged fishing ship, the Forever My Friend, 
with 8.8 tons of cocaine, was towed into San Diego after being seized 250 
miles west of Acapulco.

Officials believe the Svesda Maru was loaded with cocaine in Colombia and 
was bound for a clandestine docking in Mexico so that the shipment could 
continue its journey to the U.S. by truck, car or rail.

Two Russians and 10 Ukrainians were charged with drug smuggling and jailed 
at the federal prison in downtown San Diego.

Coast Guard officials said trawler crewmen were mightily annoyed when a 
heavily armed Coast Guard boarding party would not let them continue 
enjoying the trawler's ample supply of whiskey.

There were some language difficulties between the Coast Guard crew members 
and the crew of the Svesda Maru, but the whiskey request was easily 
answered: Nyet.
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