COURT PONDERS MERITS OF SEMISUB LAW

TAMPA - For about a year, semisubs seemed to be the way to go for
Colombian cocaine smugglers.Investigators with the Tampa-based
Operation Panama Express were plucking crews out of the eastern
Pacific Ocean at a rate of about one a month in 2009.

But so far this year, investigators have intercepted just two
semisubs, the most recent in July. The prosecutor overseeing the cases
thinks the drop-off may have something to do with a federal law
conceived in Tampa.

At the same time, authorities say, smugglers have dramatically
increased their use of panga boats in the continuing hide-and-seek
between traffickers and law enforcement.

The small skiffs that traverse shallow waters are plying the South
American coastline laden with kilos of cocaine bound for Mexico and
then brought overland to the United States. The nimble vessels can be
beached easily when spotted, allowing crew members to escape.

The semisubs can carry tons of cocaine. They poke no more than a foot
out of the ocean, their engines safely below the surface, leaving no
visible wake and a small radar signature. They pose a huge challenge
for drug patrols crisscrossing thousands of miles of open water in
search of smugglers.

When spotted, semisub crews often would use scuttle valves to sink the
vessels and cargos of cocaine, leaving no evidence for drug
prosecutions.

But in 2008, investigators were given a new tool: the Drug Trafficking
Vessel Interdiction Act, which outlaws use of the stateless vessels in
international waters. So, even when cocaine was lost, prosecutors
could bring criminal cases against a semisub's crew.

Last week, a federal appeals court heard arguments in one of the first
appeals brought under the law. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is
expected to rule whether the law is constitutional.

"At this point, it appears that it's been very effective," said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Ruddy, who oversees Operation Panama
Express, an international drug trafficking investigation that has
spanned more than a decade. "Now they realize, if they're caught,
they're going to jail."

It appears the decrease in semisub cases "is at least partially
attributable" to enforcement of the new law, Ruddy said.

The law is just one of many factors at work, said Sue McCormick,
special agent in charge of the Tampa office of U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement. World events may also be playing a role. For
example, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security
had to move resources away from the eastern Pacific to respond to the
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Haitian earthquake.

The Panama Express investigation is built on intelligence, which
enables the Coast Guard and Navy to home in on smugglers, McCormick
said. But even with good intelligence, if there isn't a military ship
nearby, the smugglers aren't caught.

Tampa defense attorney Daniel Castillo is trying to persuade the
appeals court to overturn the law. He thinks smugglers are using other
methods because semisubs aren't cost-effective.