COLOMBIA SEAMEN FOUND GUILTY OF SMUGGLING COCAINE

The Men Were Aboard A Speedboat Seized By The Coast Guard In The Pacific In
June

A case that started thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean ended with
convictions Wednesday in federal court in Tampa.

A jury found four Colombian sailors guilty of trying to smuggle more than 2
tons of cocaine aboard a speedboat. They were in an unmarked boat more than
400 miles off the coast of Ecuador and told authorities they were headed to
the Galapagos Islands.

At the trial this week, federal prosecutors never disclosed the real
destination of the drugs or why the case was prosecuted in Tampa. The
vessel is one of many loaded with drugs that have been seized this year,
with the cases prosecuted in Florida.

Defense lawyers attacked the government's case for lack of evidence.

But the jury disagreed. They deliberated for less than two hours before
convicting Pedro Tinoco, Manuel Hernandez, Tito Estupinan and Neil Hoard of
conspiracy and possession of cocaine aboard a vessel with intent to distribute.

They face a mandatory 10-year prison term, and possibly life in prison,
when they are sentenced Jan. 31.

The men sat quietly and listened to the verdicts using headphones connected
to a Spanish translator. They did not testify and their attorneys presented
no defense evidence.

Instead, defense attorneys attacked the government's case in closing
arguments. They suggested alternative scenarios, such as that the men found
the cocaine floating in the ocean or that not all the men realized cocaine
was on board.

"You don't know if that cocaine was put on board before these men ever
[set] foot on board,'' defense lawyer Stephen Leal said in his closing
argument.

Defense lawyers also suggested that the Coast Guard did not have
jurisdiction to arrest the men in the Pacific.

But U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. ruled that it did.

A Coast Guard cutter was on routine patrol off the coast of Ecuador June 18
when it spotted the unmarked vessel that was not flying a flag. The driver
of the speedboat veered away from the cutter and sped off, said Assistant
U.S. Attorney James Preston.

The Coast Guard launched a small boat to catch up with the speedboat.
Several members of the Coast Guard testified that the men aboard dumped
bales of cocaine, fuel drums and equipment into their path.

Preston described it as a "high speed chase at sea.''

The Coast Guard eventually caught up with the boat, arrested the crewmen
and retrieved about 90 waterproof bales of cocaine floating in the sea.

This is one of many similar cases in federal court in Tampa this year.
Agents have confiscated more than 17 tons of cocaine and charged 40 crewmen
but have said little publicly about the seizures.