Helena Star: An Epic Adventure Through the Murky Underworld of International Drug Smuggling

This is the epic tale of the motor vessel Helena Star. On April 17, 1978, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the aging freighter 140 miles off Washington State's coast with its hold loaded with 37 tons of marijuana--the west coast's largest pot bust--worth an estimated street value of $74 million. Drug agents later seized the sleek Joli, a 61-foot sailboat, for its suspected role in the case. A past winner of the prestigious Victoria to Maui sailboat race, the Joli had been purchased from William Niemi, Jr., former president of Eddie Bauer, by champion freestyle skier Mike Lund. The attorney for the captain of the Helena Star provides an insider's unvarnished account of the case from the trenches. The freighter and the conspirators involved were in the news from its seizure in 1978 to its death by sinking in 2013. This drug bust and the ensuing events comprise a true saga about the inner workings of a Colombian-American drug cartel, smuggling on a massive scale, money laundering, the capture of fugitives in Bolivia, suspicious deaths, the lives of high-profile individuals, and courtroom battles in Seattle and San Francisco.

Author: Stewart Patrick Riley
Publisher: Robert Reed Publishers
Published: 01/08/2021
Pages: 230
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781944297824

About the Author
After graduating from the University of Washington Law School in 1969, Stewart Patrick Riley began practicing law in Seattle as a Senior Deputy Prosecutor in the King County Prosecutor's Office for three years before embarking on a lifetime career as a criminal defense attorney, specializing in cases having international aspects and implications. During his career he has represented individuals from over 40 countries. Mr. Riley has been admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court as well as three international criminal tribunals.