The State - News from Feb. 7, 1989

A man accused of towing a record 56 tons of hashish and marijuana into San Francisco Bay made his debut as his own lawyer and blamed the charges on former Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese, among others. “This is just one of many cases being played out across this country to justify the government expense for drug interdiction,” Calvin Robinson said in his opening statement to a federal court jury in San Francisco. He said the laws under which he is being prosecuted were “lobbied into existence by special-interest groups . . . the Elliot Nesses of the ‘80s and ‘90s . . . Edwin Meese and Commissioner (William) von Raab,” the former head of U.S. Customs. Robinson also said he was innocent of smuggling. Robinson, 47, of Napa, and his son, stepson and two nephews were arrested last May when the Coast Guard seized a tug and barge and found 43 tons of hashish and 13 tons of marijuana.