The State - News from Jan. 24, 1989

A federal judge in San Francisco denied nearly every motion made by five defendants in a huge hashish-marijuana smuggling case and cleared the way for their trial to begin in April. Alleged ringleader Calvin Robinson and his co-defendants--a son, stepson and two nephews--will face trial nearly a year after they were arrested in the seizure of $189 million worth of hashish and marijuana. They allegedly used a tugboat and a barge to bring huge quantities of the drugs into the Bay Area from a “mother ship” anchored well offshore in the Pacific. Last May, a U.S. Customs Service investigation ended when the Coast Guard intercepted the tug and found the drugs hidden in secret compartments in the barge. U.S. District Judge John Vukasin, during a pretrial hearing at which details of jury selection were also to be discussed, denied 18 pretrial motions.