Insider View of the “War on Drugs” in 1985

According to Wikipedia, “The term ‘war on drugs’ was popularized by the media after a press conference, given on June 17, 1971, during which President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse ‘public enemy number one.'” When I joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1983, the “war on drugs” was 23 years old, but another two years would pass before I got an inside view of it. This is my eyewitness story of how the Coast Guard conducted a drug bust in international waters in 1985. I also contrast differences in how maritime drug busts were handled before President Trump’s second term and now. It’s a stark break.

Original “War” on Drugs

After boot camp, I was assigned to the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Rush (WHEC-723) based at Alameda, California. Normally Rush enforced US fishing laws in the Bering Sea between the US and Russia. At the end of December 1984, we sailed past the Golden Gate bridge and turned north. Sometime during our first night at sea, however, we were ordered to turn south and provide backup for USCGC Citrus (WMEC-300). Citrus and Rush were to intercept the Panamanian-flagged MV Pacific Star 680, a sea-going tug suspected of carrying drugs.

Citrus and Rush intercepted the Pacific Star during the afternoon of December 31, 1984. Through the rest of the day, Citrus trailed Pacific Star in the tug’s aft port quarter and Rush did the same off its starboard side. Citrus didn’t get permission from the Panamanian government to board the Pacific Star until the following morning, New Years Day 1985. I guess governments all over the world slow down on New Year’s Eve and Day.

On board Rush, we went to general quarters, and I went to my post on the bridge. From there I could see Citrus lower a small boat with a boarding crew into the water. As the small boat motored to the Pacific Star, smoke suddenly began to billow out of the tug. The tug then turned hard to port and rammed the Citrus amidships on its starboard side.

The Citrus was built and served first as an ocean buoy tender with a hull strengthened to break thin ice. I often think that strengthening prevented Pacific Star from doing more than denting Citrus’ hull. I’m sure had Pacific Star rammed Rush, our hull would have been holed. I suspect the five-inch cannon pointing at the Pacific Star from our bow made its captain decide to ram the Citrus instead of Rush.

What started out as a drug law enforcement effort had suddenly turned into a rescue and assistance situation. Both Coast Guard cutters maneuvered around Pacific Star to get into better positions to help. Onboard Rush, we put a team with submersible pumps and firefighting equipment into each of our small boats and sent them over to help fight the fire. Citrus maneuvered to stay close, so its onboard firefighting equipment could be used on the tug.

Despite the best efforts of both cutters’ crews, the Pacific Star slowly sank and disappeared. The tug’s crew was rescued. We learned later they had spent the night preparing to set their ship afire and scuttle it, so I’m not surprised it couldn’t be saved.

Fortunately, a crewman in one of Rush’s rescue parties had opened a main deck cargo hatch while trying to save the tug. When the ship sank, bails of marijuana floated to the surface. Coast Guard personnel recovered the bails as evidence to prove the ship had been carrying illegal drugs.

Citrus took possession of the Pacific Star’s crew and marijuana evidence and sailed back to the US. Onboard Rush, we sailed to Alaska and spent the next two months enforcing US fishing laws in the Bering Sea.

“War” vs. War and Exclusion of Armed Services from Law Enforcement

That day was my only action in the “war” on drugs. I write “war” because Webster’s dictionary first defines war as “open armed conflict between countries or between factions within the same country.” To be fair, Webster’s second definition of war supports using the word to mean a struggle against illegal drugs. I, however, don’t like merging those two meanings for war. I’ve too much respect for the inherent loss of human life and suffering in the first definition to use war in its second meaning.

Regarding armed services and law enforcement, in 1878 the federal government passed the Posse Comitatus Act which prohibits Army personnel from directly enforcing US domestic laws. Since then, Congress amended the act several times to specifically include Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force personnel in that prohibition. The US Coast Guard, the country’s remaining armed service, is exempted from the law because of its maritime law enforcement duties. The act and its amendments do allow US armed forces to provide reconnaissance, advice, and logistical support for law enforcement agencies.

Drug Policy Fact’s “Chronology of Military Participation in US Drug Control Policy and Drug Law Enforcement“, indicates Congress clearly didn’t want US armed forces directly enforcing US laws. When Congress realized text in the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2007 repealed the Posse Comitatus Act, Congress repealed that text to restore the act and its limits on armed services the following year.

Contrast with War on Drugs in President Trump’s Second Term

Without explicit war authorization from Congress, President Trump has turned the “war” on drugs (Webster’s second definition) into a kind of real war (Webster’s first definition). I write kind of because the president’s war is with drug cartels, not countries or factions within the US. Based on news articles I’ve read from traditional news sources, such as Associated Press, Reuters, BBC, and NPR, the table below shows the differences between how maritime drug smuggling laws are being followed.

Element	Original “War” on Drugs (Before President Trump’s 2nd Term)	Current War on Drugs (President Trump’s 2nd Term)
Direct law enforcement action by	US Coast Guard	US Navy
Congress authorized armed forces involvement	Yes. To support law enforcement personnel only.	No. Posse Commitatus Act forbids armed services from direct law enforcement action. Congress has not declared war on drug cartels.
Enforcement actions in accordance with US and International Laws	Yes	No
Permission to board vessel	Received from vessels’ registered countries	Permission not given by vessels’ registered countries
Evidence of drug smuggling	Identified, collected, and produced in court of law	Not identified, collected, or produced in court of law
Suspected drug smugglers legal rights	Provided and respected in court of law	Not provided. Capital punishment immediately executed without trial.

Having served, albeit one day, in the original “war” on drugs, it breaks my heart to see how President Trump has turned the “war” on drugs into a real war. My heart is broken even more by the Republican representatives and senators who control Congress betraying their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution from a domestic enemy–President Trump and his administration.