Opinion ID: 3036581
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: September 11, 2000, Boarding of the Gran Tauro

Text: After the Go-Fast crashed into the Gran Tauro, the LEDET team aboard the Valley Forge contacted the Gran Tauro by radio in Spanish. In response, Barnaza indicated that the Gran Tauro’s last port-of-call was Buenaventura on August 20, 2000;6 that the next port-of-call was also to be Buenaventura on or about September 25, 2000; that the cargo aboard was fifteen kilograms of fish; and that there were a total of eight people aboard, all from Colombia. The Valley Forge LEDET team, like the De Wert LEDET team on September 3, 2000, 6 As noted earlier, the Gran Tauro’s zarpe indicated that the Gran Tauro had actually left Buenaventura on August 25, 2000. See supra Part I(A). This discrepancy is not germane to this appeal. 2574 UNITED STATES v. PERLAZA obtained permission from the Colombian government under the Bilateral Agreement to board the Gran Tauro. The LEDET team traveled on its boarding boat in a horseshoe pattern around the Gran Tauro to determine whether the vessel had any noticeable safety hazards. Coast Guard Petty Officer Max Seda noticed a strong smell of gasoline coming from the Gran Tauro. When the LEDET team came aboard the Gran Tauro, it noticed that the vessel’s fishing gear was bundled up in front of the crew and that there was a strong smell of gasoline where they stood. When Barnaza turned over the Gran Tauro’s documents, he stated that he did not know in which fishing zone he was supposed to be or in which fishing zone, if any, he was at the time of the boarding. Barnaza also said that they had fished only four days and three nights, that they had caught only a little bit of fish, and that the last time that they caught any fish was one week earlier on September 4, 2000. He said that he did not know how to operate the high-frequency radio located in the state room behind the pilot house and indicated that he did not know how to use the boat’s GPS. Finally, he said that Audiver was the Administrator of the vessel and the person responsible for giving directions as to where the Gran Tauro would travel.