Captain Lou,

I have a problem witht that (not that officers ever abuse or try to
extend authority - that is a given) because customs officers actually
have no jurisdiction "inside" the borders. Inside in quotes because
they can exercise juridiction over anything that has not yet offically
entered the country. As you have got to know, Yarmouth is a little over
two-hundred miles. So, unless they can show a record where you entered
Canada, they still have no jurisdiction.

Where I live now, we are Great Lakes border, so we are very tuned to
what all these people try to do. But a good number of our sailing
compatriots are lawyers, and they have no problem with legal authority.

Matt Colie ex-Mystic CT
Lifelong Waterman, Licnesed Mariner and Congenital Sailor

Capt Lou wrote:
Massachusetts State Police (known as the Environmental Police on the water)
claim they can board any vessel without probable cause because they have been
"deputized" as federal agents by U.S. Customs. Does anyone know anything about
this?

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