Boatload of Coke & a Mid-Ocean Rescue
The laidback Kingdom of Tonga is normally so sleepy and tranquil that it rarely makes headlines, but this week was different. Two of the biggest stories buzzing across South Pacific news wires occurred in or near Tonga.
In a bizarre case that might qualify for the Darwin Awards category in the annals of drug smuggling (if there is such a thing), the 42-ft sailing yacht JeReVe was discovered by Tongan authorities last week after driving high onto a reef off Luatafito Atoll in Vava’u. Near the helm was the badly decomposed body of a caucasian man, and sealed within the hull was — wait for it — 200 kilos (that’s over 400 lbs!) of cocaine, with an estimated value of $120 million USD. This small mountain of coke is believed to be the largest haul ever captured in the South Pacific.
Apparently the smuggler and his plot would have been doomed even if he hadn’t navigated so poorly. Tongan and Cook Islands authorities had been on the lookout for the yacht since August, having been informed of the operation by U.S. agencies. Apparently, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was on to the scam even before the boat left Ecuador, bound for Australia. A recent U.S. government statement explained that a specialized multi-agency project has been launched to examine a number of vulnerabilities in the South Pacific that are being exploited by international organized crime syndicates.
In an unrelated case, Stephen Jones, a 52-year-old Brit, and New Zealander Tania Davies, 43, were rescued Friday 430 miles southwest of Tonga by the Hong Kong-based cargo ship Chengtu. The pair had been drifting for two days after their 38-ft fiberglass sloop Windigo was rolled by ferocious storm conditions — 50-knot winds and 30-ft seas. Although the boat righted itself, hatches and portholes were smashed in and she was listing badly.
Conditions finally abated enough last Friday to pluck the pair from their stricken craft by the freighter’s crew. They are now safely aboard the New Zealand naval vessel HMNZS Otago, or safely in Auckland.