Opinion ID: 426379
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Interception, Boarding, and Search of the RICARDO

Text: 4 On June 26, 1982, the Coast Guard cutter DUANE, an ocean-going ship, was engaged in a cadet training cruise and a routine law enforcement patrol in an area approximately 100 miles southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. At approximately 8:10 a.m., deck officer Ensign Thomas Willis detected by radar a vessel headed on a southwesterly course toward the United States mainland. The course of the DUANE was then altered so that the vessel could be intercepted and its identity determined. At about 9:15 a.m., Willis sighted the vessel through high-powered binoculars from a distance of about seven miles and observed that it appeared to be a fishing boat some 70 to 80 feet long, traveling at a speed of about 9 knots. The vessel, which was not flying a flag, was then on a southeasterly course headed away from the mainland. As the DUANE drew closer to the fishing boat, Willis noticed that the name RICARDO was crudely painted on the stern of the boat, that there was a large quantity of running rust on the hull, that the boat's block and tackle were in a state of disrepair, and that the RICARDO carried no fishing gear such as would normally be carried by an active fishing vessel. Willis also noted that the waterline on the RICARDO appeared to be freshly painted and to be higher than the level of the boat's natural waterline. Based on these observations and his Coast Guard experience with other vessels exhibiting similar characteristics, Willis concluded that the RICARDO might be smuggling narcotics. A check of the DUANE's computer revealed that on April 29, 1982, the RICARDO had been seen in Barranquilla, Colombia, a known drug exporting port. 5 As the DUANE approached the RICARDO, the Coast Guard attempted to contact the RICARDO by radio, by the ship's public address system, and by bullhorn in both Spanish and English, requesting that the RICARDO call the DUANE by radio. No response was received, but a half-hour later a member of the RICARDO's crew raised a Venezuelan flag. The Coast Guard continued its requests for radio contact and broadcast a message that the DUANE was attempting to contact the Venezuelan government for permission to board the RICARDO. 6 During the afternoon of June 26, as the DUANE followed the RICARDO at a distance of some 200 to 300 yards, Lieutenant Thomas Haas, the officer in charge of cadet training, detected from his position on the deck of the DUANE the odor of marijuana drifting back from the RICARDO. 2 Haas testified, without objection from the defendants, that the operations officer and commanding officer also had smelled the odor of marijuana. 7 The DUANE continued to follow the RICARDO and to try to establish communication with it throughout June 26 and on June 27. On the afternoon of June 27, the Coast Guard repeatedly sought permission to board the RICARDO, and eventually one of the crew members of the RICARDO came onto the deck and directed a thumbs-up signal toward the DUANE, which the Coast Guard interpreted as permission to board. 3 Following the thumbs-up signal, the Coast Guard broadcast a request that the RICARDO stop, which it promptly did. Five Coast Guardsmen boarded the RICARDO, with Ensign Willis in charge. Consistent with Coast Guard policy, all members of the boarding party were armed, but their weapons were neither aimed at the RICARDO's crew nor carried in such a manner as to give the impression that force was being used. 8 Once on board the RICARDO, Willis was informed 4 by one member of the crew, later identified as defendant Roberto Nunez-Riasco, that the captain of the RICARDO had sailed away in a small boat three days earlier, seeking food and water, and had taken the RICARDO's registration papers and other documentation with him. Nunez-Riasco stated that he did not know from where the RICARDO was coming or where it was going, and that the captain had told the crew to steer a 180-degree course until he returned. Willis requested and received from Nunez-Riasco permission to look around the vessel and to open its compartments. Willis and members of the boarding party then opened the main hold and discovered what turned out to be approximately 20 tons of marijuana. Upon searching the rest of the vessel, Willis found, among other things, four flags under a mattress, including flags of Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. A crew member stated that the boat was of Venezuelan nationality. 9 Notwithstanding discovery of the marijuana, the Coast Guard informed the RICARDO's crewmen that they were not under arrest, that the Coast Guardsmen were guests on board, and that the crewmen need not accede to requests by the Coast Guardsmen. A member of the crew gave permission for the Coast Guard to pilot the RICARDO in a northwesterly direction. Eventually, on June 28 at about 7:00 p.m., the crewmen were informed that they were under arrest by authority of the United States government. 10