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Free Navigation: Examination Of Recent Actions Of The United States Coast Guard, Edward H. Lueckenhoff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The use of aircraft and large, seagoing vessels for smuggling marijuana and other illicit drugs has created a burgeoning problem for United States efforts to control its borders. The use of foreign flag ships as "mother ships" is particularly troublesome. This practice involves foreign flag vessels, often containing several tons of marijuana, that hover in international waters just outside the United States territorial sea. The marijuana is transferred from these mother ships to smaller vessels which then cross into United States waters and distribute the contraband at prearranged points along the coast. The immunities provided by international law for foreign …