In the Caribbean, the 110-foot Nunivak is still involved in drug interdiction, but in operations that are a very long way from the New Frontier missions. Jose Jimenez, commanding officer of the Nunivak, an Island-class patrol boat that was commissioned in 1986, and is nearly as old as some of its crew. This is an inefficient method, because smugglers can either dump their illegal cargo into the sea, which they often do, or simply cruise into the territorial waters of another nation to elude the Coast Guard s grasp. One is speed. That s where we catch up, because we don t have to slow down in heavy seas.
Antiquated communications is another drawback.
The plan was to intercept a boat loaded with cocaine in international waters near the coast of the island of St. Kitts. Two DEA agents working in collaboration with two DEA agents aboard the Nunivak who came aboard in Antigua with an officer from the Antiguan Coast Guard would act as buyers who would load the cocaine aboard a motor vessel, then cruise to a rendezvous point, where the drugs would supposedly be transferred to a smaller go-fast boat. What the suspects did not know, of course, was that the Nunivak and the DEA agents would be waiting at the rendezvous point. By 1040 the Nunivak was in the vicinity of St. Kitts, and the agents maintained contact with their colleagues on the suspect vessel via cell phone. The cutter s radio reception waxed and waned, however, making it difficult to communicate with San Juan.