Yacht captain arrested with 620 pounds of cocaine

The numbers used in drug busts are some what pulled out of their a$$e$. They tend to be based on street level prices. And that can very greatly. Based on how they want to figure it. And how big a headline they want to get.

Are you talking about a very nice green boat at Pier 66? If so, I remember the owner telling me the story. He had me rolling on the floor. 'Can we help you put your boat back together Mr.________?'

No I don't believe so.

Hi,

Capt Bill, the incident occurred in Feb 1996 it started in the Mona Passage.

Reminds me of another yacht related drug bust in the tony Fort Lauderdale neighborhood The Landings where the story goes smugglers unloaded duffel bags of stuff under the cover of night numerous times before they got caught.

U.s. Drug Sting Traumatizes Family At New Home - Sun Sentinel

U.s. Indicts 19 In Drug Inquiry - Sun Sentinel

I guess the moral of this story is to get to know your neighbors!

Maybe there is more than one. The one I was referring to happened in a lock on the Okeechobee Waterway.

Probably were. There was a time when some where feeling their Wheaties. Back in the early 90's a very well known yacht was coming back from Alaska. He'd been boarded off Key West, but when he got to a few miles off Ft. Lauderdale 2 Don Johnson types came up on him a few miles out in a Cigarette, pointed to the backs of their U.S. Customs shirts and said they were going to board him. He held up the boarding papers, but they didn't care. So the owner pointed to the back of his shirt, which I believe was Joe's Crab, and said I'll see you in Ft. Lauderdale. When he got to Pier 66 they ripped his boat apart. While they were doing their damage he got on the phone to his friend the Senator. The cops finished and walked off the boat leaving it torn apart. 10 minutes later they walked back up the dock with their tails between their legs. 'Can we put everything back together for you sir?'

Hi,

In the incident I have mentioned the wannabe gumshoes would need to be multi skilled including skills in carpentry and upholstery to even begin to restore the yacht to its pre search condition.

Those are the kind I read of long ago as well. Boats basically totaled. Some even had stringers and bulkheads cut through.

Hi,

You have got it in one and not a thing was found that was not supposed to be there.

And they attempted to justify their actions by claiming various things such as "Well, they must have been tipped off" or "Reliable sources." Obviously weren't reliable. It's comparable to when the Swat team attacks and destroys the wrong house. It's one thing to screw up major. But to do so and not take responsibility for your mistake is intolerable. Fortunately, that has changed. They do their homework better and they use better methods to search. Customs is able to inspect and find drugs in such things as concrete beams and posts and wrapped inside coils of steel wire.

Actually this case that led off this thread shows the change. They didn't play macho commando seek and destroy. They waited patiently until it was in the process of being unloaded. They even developed a history. That's another thing they recognized that if someone is successful, then they'll try it again so don't panic. Basic rules of good police work don't change. Gather facts, proceed cautiously, make sure you are right, and get what is needed for a conviction. I've dealt with industrial and retail theft where we were fully convinced who was doing it. Yet, we didn't have the evidence needed. So, we set up the proper surveillance, knowing there would be a next time. There was and we had them. Good law enforcement agents do it right. They don't like being discredited by the bad ones either.

Although I've known some cops who were very skilled at both jobs, I got the sense when the owner told the story that it may have been more a case of tore apart than destroyed but I wasn't there. The owner was laughing about it so I don't think the boat suffered any real harm, just messed up.