Duivendijk - Lina Maria

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"Lina Maria"

Lina Maria

"Lina Maria" @ the port of Balboa, Panama.

Date: 05-12-2004

On September 17, 2004, the USS Curts, with a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board, intercepted the fishing vessel Lina Maria, approximately 300 miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands. Aboard the vessel, the Coast Guard boarding team found approximately 14.52 tons of cocaine. Ten crewmembers were arrested.
The ICE, FBI, and DEA agents on the Panama Express investigative team developed intelligence that the Lina Maria was transporting cocaine in the Pacific. The agents passed this data to the JIATF-South, which dispatched aircraft from the U.S. Navy, ICE, and the Coast Guard to intercept the cocaine-laden vessel. In addition, JIATF-South dispatched vessels from the Navy and Coast Guard for the same purpose.

Shortly thereafter, an ICE P-3 surveillance aircraft spotted the Lina Maria traveling off the coast of Ecuador and passed the information on to JIATF-South and a nearby Navy aircraft. A U.S. Navy vessel, with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board, subsequently intercepted the Lina Maria. The Coast Guard boarding team found the cocaine concealed in a sealed ballast tank on the ship and detained 10 individuals.

For the crew of the Lina Maria, the first indication that something had gone wrong was the appearance overhead of a propeller-driven aircraft belonging to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Cambodian-flagged vessel was identified some 300 miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands and tracked until a Coast Guard boarding team embarked on a U.S. Navy frigate could complete preparations for the boarding. The Coast Guard team boarded the vessel and within minutes had taken control of the bridge and the engine room, locating some 13.9 metric tons of cocaine in short order.

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