Some 400 tons of illegal drugs arrive safely in the country each year. I don't know. But I know we have to keep going after the big drug traffickers and money launderers and putting them out of business. The justice system is the best deterrent we have. Here, I work more closely with the agents in the field and most of our time is spent in the investigatory phase rather than the trial phase.
Big cases are long and complex.
While major pre-trial preparation time is necessary, Capone enjoys the trial advocacy aspect of his work the most, he said, presenting winning cases to juries. Most of the drug traffic in Miami involves cocaine and heroin, but Capone described a recent case involving an attempt to import a large quantity of marijuana from Jamaica on a high-speed boat. Coast Guard sharpshooters actually had to shoot out the boat's motors to stop the smugglers. Capone described a recent case he tried in which two individuals drove 26 hours from Canada to pick up 30 kilograms of cocaine. One defendant pleaded guilty and the other was convicted after a three-day trial.