When the FBI Comes Calling…®
TRAFFICKING IN NARCOTICS (continued)
Possession of Narcotics on the High Seas
As we have mentioned in our jurisdiction page, the United States has aggressively expanded its extraterritorial reach. Its efforts to combat narcotics trafficking is an excellent case in point. A number of foreign countries regularly extradite individuals suspected of engaging in the drug trade to the United States. Furthermore, the DEA, FBI and ICE regularly conduct operations in other countries to combat the drug trade. The Coast Guard, likewise, patrols the Caribbean, searching for suspicious vessels, which are routinely interdicted, boarded, and searched.
The Coast Guard can do this because Congress has given the United States near-universal jurisdiction over the drug trade on the high seas.
46 U.S.C. Appx. § 1903 (2006).
The Crime
Under this section, it is a crime
- for a person
- on board a vessel of the United States, or
- on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or
- who is a citizen of the United States or a resident alien of the United States on board any vessel
- to knowingly or intentionally
- manufacture or distribute, or
- to possess with intent to manufacture or distribute
- a controlled substance. 46 U.S.C. Appx. § 1903(a).