2014
www.swedishclub.com
Head Office Gothenburg Visiting address: Gullbergs Strandgata 6,
411 04 Gothenburg, Sweden Postal address: P.O. Box 171, SE-401 22
Gothenburg, Sweden Tel +46 31 638 400, Fax +46 31 156 711 E-mail
[email protected] Emergency +46 31 151 328
Piraeus 5th Floor, 87 Akti Miaouli, GR-185 38 Piraeus, Greece Tel
+30 211 120 8400, Fax +30 210 452 5957 E-mail
[email protected] Emergency +30 6944 530 856
Hong Kong Suite 6306, Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong
Kong Tel +852 2598 6238, Fax +852 2845 9203 E-mail
[email protected] Emergency +852 2598 6464
Tokyo 2-14, 3 Chome, Oshima, Kawasaki-Ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa
210-0834, Japan Tel +81 44 222 0082, Fax +81 44 222 0145 E-mail
[email protected] Emergency +81 44 222 0082
The Swedish Club | 181
Drug Smuggling Warning Ships are often used as vehicles for drug
smuggling. Drugs or illegal substances are hidden on the ship
itself or in its cargo. Customs authorities all over the world have
intensified their search for drugs on board. The consequences for
the shipowner and crew can be very serious when drugs are found. In
the USA the Anti Drug Abuse Act was introduced to prevent drugs
from getting on board through greater on board security. The simple
means of achieving this objective being by levying punishing fines
on the shipowner and imposing jail sentences on those found guilty
of having smuggled the drugs. The Act establishes that any person
who knowingly or intentionally brings or possesses on board a
vessel a so called controlled substance shall be punished. For
example a person committing a violation involving 1 kilogram or
more of heroin, 50 grams or more of "cocaine base" or 10 grams or
more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of LSD, shall be
sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 20 years and
not more than life and a fine not more than USD 4,000,000 if the
defendant is an individual or USD 10,000,000 if the defendant is
other than an individual, or both. No person sentenced under this
paragraph shall be eligible for parole during the term of
imprisonment imposed therein." An option available to the
authorities is confiscation of the entire ship – and seizure of the
ship followed by substantial delay while investigations are being
carried out is not uncommon. The amount of the applicable fine
multiplied with the weight of the quantity of the drug discovered
has no maximum – so fines are basically unlimited. Initial
penalties are regularly assessed in tens of millions of dollars and
although the amount can be reduced the owner has a very difficult
burden of proof to sustain. The owner must show that he exercised
“the highest degree of care and diligence”. While investigations
are going on the ship will remain under arrest. Criminal
proceedings will be instituted against anybody on board who might
be involved in the smuggling. The U.S Customs Service has issued a
Sea Carrier Security Manual in which it describes routines and
procedures which they expect an owner and the officers to
implement. Only compliance to the letter with the contents of the
manual will be accepted as a proof that the owner has exercised
“the highest degree of care and diligence” which may then result in
a reduction or withdrawal of the fine.
