In 1979 a group of Cali, Colombia marijuana traffickers headed by Jaime deJesus Cordoba-Vargas and Jaime deJesus Marin-Jaramillo organized a venture to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. aboard the 168-foot (51m) motor vessel Samarkanda, a surplus U.S. Navynet tender converted to a tugboat and once called Alexandra. The standard procedure for the group was to load contraband on "mother ships" in South America, sail north, then rendezvous with smaller "contact" vessels off the U.S. coast. They operated under the theory that if the ship picked up contraband on the high seas and delivered it on the high seas they would not violate any national laws except perhaps that of its flag country, Colombia. To a certain extent, the smugglers were correct.
The stranger on Whale Creek
In February 1979, the Drug Enforcement Administration in Seattle, Washington learned of a man attempting to buy beachfront property at the mouth of Whale Creek on the Quinault Indian Reservation on the Washington coast. He was interested in access to the beach since much of the coast in this area is high bluff. Agents identified the purchaser as Paul Oscar Nelson of Montesano, Washington and Marina Del Rey, California, already a defendant in a 1978 California cocaine case. Nelson had told undercover agents then that he worked for an organization that smuggled marijuana and cocaine into the U.S. Nelson was also in telephone contact with Port Townsend, used equipment dealer and former U.S. Navy officer William Francis Perka, suspected of being a navigator for the Cordoba organization.
The agents began to track Nelson in May as he acquired a custom-built trailer near Seattle, two yachts, the 35-foot (11m)Schnapps and the 55-foot (17m)Whitecap, and a 26-foot (7.9m) motorhome. Agents watched while Nelson, Michael William Butler of Westport, Washington, Jaime Marin-Jaramillo and Roy David Thompson, a ham radio operator, installed radios in boats, a pickup truck, and the motor home, and gathered supplies for a long trip.
Dope from the sky
Samarkanda off the coast of Colombia in April 1979
At the same time, Samarkanda left from Tumaco, Colombia under the command of Marco Antonio Lopera-Penago with the intentions of smuggling cannabis to Juneau, Alaska. William Perka served as navigator and William Terry Hines, a San Rafael, California diesel mechanic served as engineer. Both Hines and Perka had served aboard Samarkanda before. The ship loitered off the coast of Colombia for three weeks. During that time a DC-6 aircraft made four trips dropping bales in shrimp nets, totalling about 634 bales of cannabis worth $6–7 million. The crew used a small boat to retrieve the bales. The plane also dropped a package giving instructions to Samarkanda to rendezvous with another ship.
Samarkanda, already known to U.S. authorities, was photographed by a U.S. Coast GuardC-130 aircraft. In the photograph, seen on right, two bales of the marijuana were visible on the fantail.
Captain Lopera, guided by Perka, headed the ship west, then north, staying several hundred miles off the U.S. coast. During the voyage to Alaska the ship encountered engine problems due to contaminated fuel and overheating generators. The navigation devices also malfunctioned, but Perka's navy training allowed him to use celestial navigation. Engineer Hines later testified that an overhaul recently completed in Mexico was improperly done. He stated that first one engine failed, then the other (two engines turned a generator which powered the electric motor driving the propeller), leaving the ship without power and in darkness. Hines managed to get one engine restarted.
Preparations
In Seattle, agents watched Paul Nelson and Roy Thompson as they parked the motorhome on a hill, erected a long antenna, and made contact with Samarkanda. Nelson then headed north in Whitecap with William Butler at the helm and Jaime Marin-Jaramillo as a passenger. The narcotics agents followed them to Port Angeles, Washington, then to Neah Bay at Cape Flattery. In the darkness north of Neah Bay, contact with Whitecap was lost. Roy Thompson drove the motorhome to the highest point in Puget Sound, Mount Constitution on Orcas Island.
The U.S. agents notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which launched an air reconnaissance of the coast of Vancouver Island. The Mounties spotted Whitecap and followed it into Sydney Inlet north of Flores Island, a spot already proven popular with smugglers. The Mounties then fielded an elaborate surveillance of the area using a fishing boat, mountain top observation posts, and periodic flyovers. Marked police boats hid in secluded waters nearby. The Mounties watched Whitecap and its crew for five days.
Sydney Inlet
Captain Lopera testified that as the weather worsened he worried about the safety of his ship and cargo. On May 21, 1979, he decided to head for the Canadian coastline to let the contaminants in the diesel fuel settle out and fix any damage. Lopera and Samarkanda sailed into Sydney Inlet where Whitecap fired a flare and guided Samarkanda into a small unnamed bay there.
That same afternoon, the RCMP aircraft with a U.S. agent aboard, spotted Samarkanda off the coast. The Mounties watched the mother ship sail into Sydney Inlet. A call went the Canadian Forces which dispatched the destroyer HMCSQu'Appelle. RCMP maritime and aviation assets began to assemble.
As the tide ebbed in the night, Samarkanda ran aground on rocks and began to list. Fearing that the boat might capsize, Captain Lopera ordered his men to unload the cargo of bales containing marijuana.
Raid
At dawn, the RCMP was poised to move in and the members were stunned to see that Samarkanda was heeled over on its side. RCMP boats charged into the tiny bay, sirens and loudspeakers blazing. The smugglers fled into the bush. Within a few hours, 21 men were arrested including three Americans. Missing were William Perka and Paul Nelson. U.S. agents arrested Roy Thompson on Mount Constitution in Washington where he had established a radio station for the enterprise.
Samarkanda at Sydney Inlet, Vancouver Island, May 22, 1979
As the tide came back in, Samarkanda refloated itself, none the worse for wear. A prize crew from HMCS Qu'Appelle boarded and got engines started. Once the cargo of 634 bales was reloaded, Qu'Appelle escorted Samarkanda back to Victoria, British Columbia.
Whitecap in Sydney Inlet, Vancouver Island, May 22, 1979
Perka and Nelson remained at large in the uninhabited wilderness of Vancouver Island relying on Perka's navy survival skills. All they found to eat was a frog and ferns. After eight days, they surrendered to an RCMP patrol boat which was waiting for them.
Queen's Bench
At trial the following year, the crewmen were dismissed from the case at the close of the Crown's case. They returned to their countries of residence. Captain Lopera and the Americans remained in the prisoners' dock and Perka, Nelson, Hines, and Lopera testified. Perka admitted to other voyages on Samarkanda "strictly legal," but he refused to elaborate. Nelson admitted that he intended to import the marijuana to Alaska, not Canada. He refused to identify his customers or other details. Captain Lopera and Hines explained their engine problems.
The defendants' lawyers argued a defence of necessity. They did not intend to land in Canada and international law allowed them to land to save their lives. An expert defense witness testified that it was vital that they land on shore and would have sunk otherwise.
The Crown did not challenge the expert witness's credentials nor attempt to refute the mechanical condition of Samarkanda. The Crown argued that the defendants were arrested while moving supplies onto shore which expressed an intention to stay in Canada. The remaining defendants were acquitted by the jury on June 10, 1980.
Judgment of the Court
Justice Dickson, writing for the majority, held that a new trial was necessary because the trial judge had incorrectly charged the jury on the defence of necessity. The trial judge had instructed them to consider if the crew's situation was so dire that a reasonable doubt was raised as to whether or not their decision to land in Canada was justified. This set the bar too low. The defence, Dickson described, was a rare exception that would only be allowed when there was clear "involuntariness" where the accused was "strictly controlled and scrupulously limited".
In order for an accused to successfully argue a defence of necessity they must establish three points. First, there is the requirement of imminent peril or danger. Second, the accused must have had no reasonable legal alternative to the course of action he or she undertook. Third, there must be proportionality between the harm inflicted and the harm avoided.
Aftermath
Of all the men arrested in the Samarkanda case, only Jaime Marin was ever charged in the U.S. and that was in connection with another run by Samarkanda. He was convicted in an unrelated case, but never in connection with these cases. Jaime deJesus Cordoba-Vargas was murdered by a girlfriend in Cali in 1982.
William Perka was arrested in the U.S. in April 1987 on an extradition warrant from Canada after his acquittal was overturned.
The Perka test was later elaborated on in cases such as R. v. Latimer.
Sources
Peyton Whitely, "B.C. Pot Seizure Capped Long Investigation Here," The Seattle Times, May 26, 1979, p. A-5;
Peyton Whitely, "Extradition Order Stirs Up Old Drug Smuggling Case," Ibid., April 24, 1987, p. E-1;
Regina v. William Francis Perka, et al. Provincial Court of British Columbia, Victoria, BC;
"Paul Oscar Nelson," Drug Enforcement Administration investigative file, RE-79-0055.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, colloquially known as the Mounties, are the federal and national police service of Canada, providing law enforcement at the federal level. The RCMP also provide provincial policing in eight of Canada's provinces and local policing on a contract basis in the three territories and more than 150 municipalities, 600 Indigenous communities, and three international airports. The RCMP do not provide active provincial or municipal policing in Ontario or Quebec. However, all members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all provinces and territories of Canada. Despite the name, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are no longer an actual mounted police service, with horses only being used at ceremonial events.
Henry Asbjørn Larsen was a Canadian Arctic explorer. Larsen was born on a small island, Herføl, south of Fredrikstad in Norway. Like his hero, Roald Amundsen, he became a seaman. Larsen immigrated to Canada, and became a British subject in 1927. In 1928, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of transporting (smuggling) alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land.
The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending 200 miles (320 km) into the ocean.
Robert Gordon Teather (1947–2004) was a 28-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) who was awarded the Cross of Valour, Canada's highest award for bravery, for a rescue he performed in 1981.
USCGC Courageous (WMEC-622) was a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. She was built by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio and launched on 18 March 1967. She commissioned on 19 April 1968. She was decommissioned 19 September 2001.
USCGC Durable (WMEC-628) was a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. The Durable was the first cutter in Coast Guard history to hold this name. Like all ships in the Reliance-Class of 210-foot (64 m) medium endurance cutters, Durable was named for an aspirational trait meaning to be capable of withstanding wear or decay.
Canadian Mounties vs Atomic Invaders (1953) is a Republic Movie serial starring Bill Henry and both produced and directed by Franklin Adreon. It was the sixty-second serial produced by Republic. Despite the title, this is not a science fiction serial. The plot is a northern cold war adventure involving secret missile bases and a planned invasion of the United States.
Northern Pursuit is a 1943 American World War II film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who tries to uncover a Nazi plot against the Allied war effort. The film was set in Canada during the early years of the war.
Perils of the Wilderness is a 1956 American Western Serial film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring Dennis Moore.
CGS Margaret was the first vessel to be built specifically for the Canadian Customs Preventive Service. Delivered in 1914, she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and served as HMCS Margaret during the First World War. Following the war, Margaret was returned to the Customs Preventive Service spending most of the 1920s intercepting smugglers during American Prohibition. In 1932 the ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The ship was sold shortly thereafter, and was subsequently acquired by the Brazilian Navy and renamed Rio Branco, utilized as a hydrographic survey vessel. Rio Branco was discarded in 1958.
United States v. Johns, 469 U.S. 478 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court criminal law case holding that a three-day delay in searching a motor vehicle under government control did not violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Mayerthorpe tragedy occurred on March 3, 2005, on the farm of James Roszko, approximately 11 km (6.8 mi) north of Rochfort Bridge near the town of Mayerthorpe in the Canadian province of Alberta.
The Great Lakes Patrol was carried out by American naval forces, beginning in 1844, mainly to suppress criminal activity and to protect the maritime border with Canada. A small force of United States Navy, Coast Guard, and Revenue Service ships served in the Great Lakes throughout these operations. Through the decades, they were involved in several incidents with pirates and rebels.
Operation Caribbe is the Canadian Armed Forces contribution to the elimination of illegal trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean by organized crime. The operation began in 2006 and its mandate has been altered twice since then.
USCGC Aspen (WLB-208) is the eighth cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of seagoing buoy tenders. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Eleventh U.S. Coast Guard District and is home-ported at Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco, California. Her primary area of responsibility is the coastal waters, river bars and high seas from the California–Oregon border to San Diego, California. Aspen conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.
USCGC Sea Otter (WPB-87362) is the 61st cutter in the United States Coast Guard's successful Marine Protector class.
USCGC Joseph Tezanos (WPC-1118) is the United States Coast Guard's 18th Sentinel-class cutter. She was commissioned on August 26, 2016. She was the sixth of the first cohort of six FRCs home-ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Jaime Guillot Lara was a Colombian drug and weapons smuggler, and international underworld facilitator, indicted for his involvement in the trafficking of 2.5 million pounds of marijuana, 25 million methaqualone tablets, and 80 pounds of cocaine to the United States between 1977 and 1981.
Fushin-sen is a Japanese term that generally refers to all seaborne vessels that behave suspiciously.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
