US Coast Guard can arrest anyone on any ocean in the world?
 

Somebody fill me in on the legality of this situation:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ocaine_seizure


Some Colombian guys are floating in a boat full of cocaine 300 miles west of the Galapagos Islands, and so the US Navy and Coast Guard intercepts them and arrests them.

Ten people were detained. They were charged Monday by federal authorities in Tampa, Florida.

How does the US Coast Guard have the authority to arrest people 300 miles west of the Galapagos Islands? Are there no limits to jurisdiction? Can any country use their version of the Coast Guard to arrest people in the middle of the ocean?

Also, what law were these guys breaking by being in a boat full of drugs in the middle of the ocean?

I think they invited them selfes to be the official guardian of truth Justice and the American way:1orglaugh

maybe that area is part of the international waters

Although i think they cant leagtally.

Why are you bitching, the stopped a bunch of drug dealers and criminals.

Does that mean any country can arrest anyone in international waters and then hold them legally accountable for their laws?

1) How am I "bitching"? I'm curious about the laws behind this situation.

2) For these people to be "criminals" they would have to be breaking a law. Whose law did they break while floating in the middle of the ocean?

they didnt, break any laws except maybee Columbia.... and they sold out to the US as far as Drug enforcement goes:2 cents:

IIRC, they go by the laws where the boat/ship is registered. The first ship wasn't registered anywhere, so that's pretty much up for grabs. Though I'm unaware of any country where trafficking in cocaine is legal.

good question

I was under the impression that american iurisdiction is exactly 3 miles around the coast of any american land. I cant imagine that holding up in court.

So if a ship isn't registered in any country, it's up for grabs, and anyone who catches it can apply their laws to the people on it no matter where in the world it is?

They probably wont be put on trial, but at least the drugs wont hit our streets.

You people are missing the big picture, think outside the box.

good question brisk. i'd like to know this answer myself

A ship has to be registered in some country. If it's not registered it's illegal by default. In such cases authorities proceed to arrests and based on further data they pass the criminals where they belong.

Considering not registering a ship/boat is illegal in the first place, I would say "yes". :)

Can you imagine if it was OK to just not register and then you were under no country's law? :1orglaugh

I'm sure the US would be more than happy to find out the nationality of the people on board and send them back to their country for prosecution. Most South and Central American countries have much stricter laws against cocaine than the US has.

flag rule.

I think you're missing the big picture.

It sounds all well and good when it is Americans arresting drug runners, but what if the Coast Guard of Saudi Arabia found some American women floating in the middle of the ocean and arrested them for not being covered up and they were all drinking champagne?

My point is, can any country apply its laws to anyone they find floating in the middle of the ocean in an unregistered boat?

Yes.

illegal according to who?

Most likely this was the thought process on this bust. They realize they can't hold them but its highly unlikely the drugs will be released to them when they leave our system.

illegal according to who? who says it's illegal to have an unregistered boat in the middle of the ocean?

maybe international law?

i would think so

http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/

Basically by not be a registered ship of a State they are in violation of International Law and any State that finds the unregistered ship may exert jurisdiction over said ship is what I get from reading docs on this site.



My :2 cents: not actual fact

There are ships that do not have to be registered (i pre-assumed it's a commercial one), but this doesn't mean anything. The ship registration is a convenient mean of establishing title to the property of it. (ownership) The ship has owner and captain who are responsible for that.

I assume that because these guys are Colombian and Colombia is a member of the UN, that these guys fall under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

If that's how it works, then I wonder what would happen if the Coast Guard couldn't identify what country these guys were from?

yes they did a crime. The crime was to plot and plan to introduce the drugs in the US. I guess that's where the boat was going to anyways. You do not have to commit a crime like actually killing somebody in order to be put in prison. Hiring the hitman or plotting to kill somebody will get you in prison as well and it is as criminal as it could get even if the poor guy did not die. That's just an example so I think it makes sense to say that they were planning to commit a crime in the USA and they were intercepted. That on top of the fact that the boat was not registered anywhere again is a crime to both US and International law, and that has been the case since the 14th-15th century with pirates :)

I am not an expert on the subject of course I would like to read somebody more related to the field and his point of view :)

I am not sure how the laws work but I know that Curacau is very far off of American waters and they have a major coast gaurd station thier and I believe there is one in the galapagos just like we have military bases abroad we have coast gaurd stations abroad and I am sure that uraguay has a treaty of some sort with us that allows us to intercept drug runners

That would have to be proven, but I assume the Coast Guard has some proof that will show up in court. Simply floating in the ocean is not proof that you're going to be selling cocaine in America.