The State - News from April 12, 1989

The four crewmen of a tugboat that hauled a barge holding a record load of marijuana and hashish into San Francisco Bay were acquitted of drug smuggling, a crime for which the boat’s captain, Calvin Robinson, was convicted earlier. The defendants--Robinson’s son, stepson and two nephews--said they were unaware of the barge’s cargo and were not involved in loading the barge from a ship 1,200 miles at sea. A San Francisco federal court jury acquitted the four of six felony charges each after nearly three days of deliberations. Robinson, 47, of Napa, was convicted in February of the same charges, including smuggling, possession of drugs with intent to distribute, and conspiracy. The tug and barge were seized last May. Carefully hidden in the barge, the Coast Guard said, were 43 tons of hashish, the largest amount ever confiscated in U.S. waters, and 13 tons of marijuana.