Fishing Boat Is Seized by Coast Guard After Drugs Found Aboard

A 28-foot fishing boat was seized by the Coast Guard Monday night after small amounts of marijuana and methamphetamines and 11 syringes were found on board, authorities said.

An Escondido woman, identified as Stacy Dawn Strand, 29, was cited for possessing and importing drugs and drug paraphernalia, said John Miller, a spokesman for the Customs Service.

Strand, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, could face a maximum penalty of a year in prison, U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez said. He said there is no federal offense of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Under the federal government’s controversial “zero tolerance” policy, the boat might not be returned to the owner, who must prove it was not used for ferrying illegal drugs into the country.

According to state records, the seized boat--a 1966 Trojan BTM--was registered to Mike John Backstrom and Robert P. Brueckner, both of Santee. Neither could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Members of the Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team said they boarded the boat about 7 p.m. Monday to conduct a routine search. The boat, which was stopped about 4 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border and 2 miles off the coast, had two people aboard and was returning from the Coronado Islands.

Shortly after boarding, officers said, they found a partly smoked marijuana cigarette in the galley sink. As a result, the boat was taken to the Harbor Patrol dock, where a more thorough search was conducted.

The search turned up 11 syringes, about 5 grams of methamphetamine and 3 grams of marijuana. One of the syringes contained about 25 cubic centimeters of an undetermined brown liquid.

The drugs and syringes “were in a bag, just lying on the floor in what looked like a shaving kit,” said Petty Officer Patrick Kelley, one of those who boarded the boat. “It was right out in the open. We don’t know what the brown liquid was, and I don’t care to speculate.”

Strand was arrested, then cited and released. The second person was not arrested or cited, authorities said. Miller would not say whether any drugs were found on Strand.

“We don’t release details like that about the arrests,” he said. “However, I can say that in cases like this, there has to be some connection between the person arrested and the drugs found.”

“We hope that this will show that we are serious about stopping the flow of drugs into the country,” Miller said.