MEQUON MAN ON THE FRONT LINES IN WAR ON DRUGS

Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Mike Barone Takes A Bail Of Cocaine, Which
Will Be Used As Evidence In Court, To Storage After The Uss Samuel B.
Roberts Intercepted A Drug Vessel.

Navy/Coast Guard Mission Busts Pacific Smugglers

Eight-point-nine tons. That's how much cocaine Navy and Coast Guard crew
aboard the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts seized during counter drug operations.

"I've got 18 years experience in the Navy, and this is probably one of the
most rewarding things I've had the opportunity to do," said John Holler, a
38-year-old Damage Control chief from Mequon. "This is my third operation
.. and this is probably the most successful one we've had so far."

Since deploying from their home port in the Mayport, Fla., the Navy ship
and detachment of Coast Guard members have seized almost 9 tons of illegal
drugs from smugglers in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

Holler and other members of the crew were interviewed by telephone earlier
this month from the ship.

The operations in the waters of Central and South America don't garner the
headlines like military action in Persian Gulf, but crew members say they
are involved in an ongoing war -- the war on drugs.

The Samuel B. Roberts is commanded by 41-year-old Michael Hall, a San Diego
native with just less than 19 years in the Navy. He's heard from crew
members who have a sense of accomplishment in what they are doing.

"Those drugs will never make it to their final destination -- that feeling
is pretty much felt throughout the entire crew," Hall said.

Joint Mission

The Navy carries out the detection and tracking of suspect ships while the
detachment of Coast Guardsmen on the ship carry out the law enforcement
activities on the target vessel. U.S. law prohibits the Navy from carrying
out law enforcement activities.

The military and State Department also work though various agreements with
other countries leading up to the boarding of a vessel.

"The laws are very strict, and they are followed to the letter as in regard
giving these people due process ... and we have to find probable cause,"
Hall said. "We don't just go blazing in like cowboys."

The process of tracking, boarding and processing a smuggling vessel can
take anywhere from 12 hours to several days.

After communicating with the ship, the law enforcement detachment will
develop probable cause and get approval to board though standing
international agreements. The Coast Guard crew will then board the suspect
vessel.

"We move forward with a team working with the master and working with the
crew and a team checking and accounting for all the space on the boat,"
said 36-year-old Lt. j.g. Stephen O'Neill, a Holden, Mass., native who is
the officer in charge of the Coast Guard law enforcement detachment. "The
easiest way to smuggle drugs is to build a false compartment ... We bring
some expertise to the plate on how to locate and access compartments on
vessels and what looks like a real compartment and what looks fake."

O'Neill oversees between eight and 10 people on the detachment.

When the detachment and Navy crew get word that drugs have been found,
there's a sense of gratification.

"Once we know we have the drugs or contraband, you hear the entire crew
cheer ... we're taking drugs off the streets of America," Holler said.

Last year was big for the operation with 12 ships seizing more than 103,000
pounds of narcotics with an estimated value of $932 million, according to
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. Up to December, 25 vessels had been
intercepted with 154 people detained. Navy aircraft are also part of the
operations.

Fiery Adversity

But smugglers don't make it easy.

Hidden compartments need to be ferreted out by members of the detachment
and Navy engineers, poorly maintained ships need to be made safe for the
boarding teams, and crew members are detained and brought back to the
Samuel B. Roberts while evidence on the suspect vessel is tagged and
photographed.

During one of the busts, smugglers set their boat on fire in an attempt to
destroy their cargo of drugs.

Saving that ship -- and the evidence on board -- fell to men under the
supervision of Holler. Photos of the incident show a brightly burning
vessel just off the side of the Roberts and blue-clad Navy personnel with
hoses dousing the flames.

Seeing that vessel still floating after the fire brought an overwhelming
sense of accomplishment to Holler and his crew who train day-in-and-day-out
for such situations.

"When I saw my guys go up there and performed the way they did ... it was
just overwhelming," he said. "It was a big motivation factor -- they
enjoyed it."

War On Drugs

The Samuel B. Roberts is just one part of a larger operation the United
States is committed to carrying out.

"It's not the forefront in regards to what's been going in Afghanistan and
Iraq, but I think it's definitely just as important," Hall said. "There's a
lot of people and a very large organization that goes into apprehending one
vessel that's carrying drugs."

In June 2000, Hall was the commander the USS Kingfisher, one of two Navy
ships that searched for the sunken fishing tug Linda E on Lake Michigan.
The USS Defender eventually found the missing boat.

O'Neill said the Navy's mission might not get a lot of ink, but it deserves it.

"You just don't hear about it a lot ... for everything we do down here, it
has a domino effect back in the states," he said. "Even the smallest
seizure we make out here really prevents a lot of ... cocaine or marijuana
from reaching the street."