Ironically, I was in St. Maarten last month while the Tampa was docked in the beautiful Great Bay off the capital Philipsburg. I took photos of her, including some of the crew taking a boat ashore to the famous Boardwalk, a walkway which follows the bay. The crew of the Tampa was on patrol in support of migrant and drug interdiction operations in the Windward Passage when they came across the suspect vessel. The drugs were discovered in a hidden compartment.
“This is a huge win for the crew,” said Commander Clinton S. Carlson, adding “A boarding like this takes the concerted effort of all hands in one form or another, and the Tampa crew did magnificent and ultimately kept these drugs from crossing our borders”. Watch the video (below) of the Tampa's homecoming:
After arresting the 11 suspects, the crew of the Tampa turned them, along with the narcotics, over to the US Department of Justice, Southern District of Florida for prosecution.
Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. writes the "Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster in the Caribbean" spy series. Contact him on the Secure Contact Form.
