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Tall ship used to smuggle cocaine and heroin The famed tall ship, the 371 ft Juan Sebastian de Elcano, a Royal Spanish Navy training vessel, is at the center of a drug trafficking scandal. The ship was allegedly used to smuggle multi-kilogram quantities of heroin and cocaine into New York City between April and May of 2014—and now two alleged drug traffickers, Jorge Luis Hoayeck and Jorge Alberto Siado-Alvarez, have been arrested in Colombia pursuant to a U.S. extradition warrant. The two men are also being charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. A long-term wiretap investigation—pursued by Colombian authorities—revealed that Hoayeck and Siado-Alvarez agreed to pay two midshipmen a total of $32,000 to hide the narcotics aboard the ship and deliver it to New York City-based traffickers. Hoayeck and Siado-Alvarez oversaw the drug operation from Cartagena, Colombia.
biz notes ABS realigns Division
The two communicated with one another, as well as the New York City-based narcotics by mobile phones using coded, cryptic language. It is believed that the midshipmen received the narcotics while the ship was docked in Cartagena on or about April 16, 2014. The midshipmen allegedly met the NYC traffickers on May 14 and accompanied them to a residence in the Bronx to complete the delivery. Seven individuals associated with the NYC-based g roup were ar rested and indicted following the delivery. After the ship left New York, it traveled to Ireland, Norway, Germany and back to its homeport Cadiz, Spain. It was in Cadiz that the Spanish Civil Guard searched the ship and recovered 127 kilograms of cocaine in a storeroom for reserve sails.
In order to strengthen its localized leadership to help pursue expanding opportunities, classification society ABS has realigned its Americas Division operation to create two additional new regions—Canada and Mexico; and Central America and the Caribbean. “ABS recognizes that the expansion of the Panama Canal, increased Arctic operations and growth in LNG markets present pivotal opportunities for our members and clients, and we are proactively realigning operations to strengthen our world-class service delivery to support them,” says ABS Americas President and COO James Watson. “In realigning our resources, ABS is better leveraging our global network and leading technology programs to assist owners and operators in these regions.” Joseph Rousseau has been named Regional Vice President for Canada. Meanwhile, Homero Guerra is now Regional Vice President for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
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February 2016 MARINE LOG 11