## Facts

- A U.S. Navy ship carrying a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment encountered the Panamanian fishing vessel *Nataly I* in international waters in July 1995.
- The vessel’s master, Richard Klimavicius-Viloria, reported the ship was on a fishing voyage and permitted a Coast Guard boarding.
- Coast Guard personnel observed irregularities suggesting the vessel was not engaged in legitimate fishing.
- The Coast Guard obtained Panamanian authorization to conduct a full search and, later, to seize the vessel and contraband.
- During the search, fuel had to be transferred to access areas of the vessel; Navy engineers assisted with the transfer, and the Navy transported search equipment and instructed Coast Guard personnel in its use.
- The search uncovered approximately twelve tons of cocaine concealed aboard the vessel.
- The Navy assisted with towing and logistics, transferring occupants to the Navy ship, and providing medical care; the Coast Guard conducted interrogations and made arrests.
- All defendants (crew) were charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine aboard a vessel under 46 U.S.C. app. § 1903; the master and chief engineer were also charged with conspiracy under 46 U.S.C. app. § 1903(j).
- A jury convicted all defendants, and they appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Navy involvement in the stop, search, seizure, and handling of defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act by constituting direct military execution of civilian law.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove each defendant knowingly possessed cocaine with intent to distribute, particularly for non-officer crewmembers.
3. Whether any additional trial or sentencing rulings required reversal.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed all convictions and sentences.
- The court held there was no Posse Comitatus Act violation because the Coast Guard directed and executed the law-enforcement operation, while the Navy provided logistical and technical support.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find knowing possession and intent to distribute as to all defendants, including rank-and-file crew, based on the totality of circumstances.
- The court rejected remaining evidentiary and procedural challenges as non-reversible error.

## Legal Principles

- The Posse Comitatus Act is not violated when the military provides indirect support (equipment, technical assistance, transport, medical aid) to a Coast Guard operation, so long as the military does not independently exercise coercive law-enforcement powers such as deciding to search, seize, interrogate, or arrest.
- The Coast Guard has independent statutory authority to board, search, and seize vessels for maritime drug enforcement; foreign-flag vessel enforcement on the high seas is authorized when the flag state consents.
- “Mere presence” on a drug-laden vessel is insufficient, but knowledge and intent may be inferred from circumstantial evidence, including extraordinarily large quantities of drugs, vessel modifications or irregularities consistent with smuggling, absence of legitimate voyage activity, and the roles and responsibilities of officers controlling ship operations.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that Navy assistance to a Coast Guard-led high-seas interdiction remained within lawful support functions under the Posse Comitatus Act, and that substantial circumstantial evidence—especially the quantity of cocaine and the vessel’s suspicious condition and voyage—supported the jury’s findings that all crew members knowingly participated in possession with intent to distribute under the maritime drug statutes.


United States v. Klimavicius-Viloria, 144 F.3d 1249 (9th Cir. 1998)