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High On The Seas: Drug Smuggling, The Fourth Amendment, And Warrantless Searches At Sea, Daniel H. Foote
High On The Seas: Drug Smuggling, The Fourth Amendment, And Warrantless Searches At Sea, Daniel H. Foote
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Today no statute prohibits the mere possession of marijuana or other controlled substances beyond the three-mile offshore territorial limit of the United States; but prosecutions relating to vessels carrying controlled substances outside the territorial waters may be based upon charges of conspiracy to import or distribute the substances. In attempting to halt the recent increase in smuggling of such contraband by sea, the United States Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies have aggressively exercised their powers to stop and search vessels. Two parallel statutory provisions, 14 U.S.C. § 89(a) and 19 U.S.C. § 158,(a), give the Coast Guard and …