bananas & cannabis
TBHC35 years ago…
September 15, 1971 – For the second time in a week, a stakeout at the city docks by U.S. Customs agents results in arrests and the seizure of smuggled marijuana. Agents netted 870 pounds of the drug, which authorities believed to be the largest haul ever in Hillsborough County. The contraband, seized after it was observed being unloaded from the banana boat Maya, had an estimated street value of $278,400 ($1.3 million in today’s dollars). Sam Johnson, special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs office in Tampa, said that the Maya arrived in Tampa on the 13th with a load of bananas from Turbo, Columbia. “Because Turbo is apparently a hotbed for marijuana being smuggled into the United States, the boat was put under surveillance,” Johnson said.
Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.
Tags: law enforcement, on this day, tampa, transportation
Loading ...
September 15th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
so, would that be bananabis?
October 8th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
All I can say is the most Angel, Jerry and I ever got was scrap iron and stinky cheese.