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

Heading: The Go-Fast and the Gran Tauro

Text: In the early morning hours of September 11, 2000, the De Wert’s radar showed a vessel moving at approximately eighteen knots in a westerly direction toward another vessel that was moving approximately one to two knots. Shortly thereafter, the two approaching vessels “merged” on the radar screen, meaning that they were no more than 300 yards apart from each other. These two vessels were later visually identified through binoculars from the De Wert’s bridge as a GoFast and the Gran Tauro. The Gran Tauro was still well outside its authorized fishing zones — at least 96 miles north of the northwest boundary of Zone 2. Between September 3, 2000, when the Gran Tauro was ordered to return to Buenaventura, and when it was boarded on September 11, 2000, the Gran Tauro had traveled only 290 to 300 miles toward Colombia. At approximately 5:43 a.m., the De Wert launched its helicopter to investigate the radar contact merge. The helicopter’s 2572 UNITED STATES v. PERLAZA surface radar showed two contacts of interest. The first was a vessel approximately twenty-five nautical miles northeast of the De Wert. The helicopter flew in that direction until it determined that the vessel was not the Gran Tauro. The helicopter then made a hard right turn and flew in the direction of the second contact, which was approximately eight nautical miles southeast of the De Wert. Using the infra-red camera, the helicopter crew determined that the second contact was the Gran Tauro sitting dead in the water with its crew milling about on the stern. About three minutes later, the helicopter crew spotted the Go-Fast heading northwest away from the Gran Tauro.5 The helicopter followed the Go-Fast and videotaped its actions with its infra-red camera. At one point, the Go-Fast stopped, as if its crew detected the helicopter’s pursuit, and turned back toward the Gran Tauro. While being taped, the Go-Fast weaved left and right and jettisoned large bales of cargo. The Go-Fast traveled erratically toward the Gran Tauro until it crashed into the Gran Tauro’s stern, causing substantial damage to the Go-Fast. The Gran Tauro began to steam away, giving no assistance to the Go-Fast as it began to sink; no one aboard the Gran Tauro even came out to the stern of the vessel to see what hit it. Meanwhile, as the Go-Fast began to capsize, its crew stripped themselves naked in an apparent attempt to remove any trace evidence of having handled the cocaine.