A call went the Canadian Forces which dispatched the destroyer HMCS Qu'Appelle.
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William Perka served as navigator and William Terry Hines, a San Rafael, California diesel mechanic served as engineer.
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At the same time, Samarkanda left from Tumaco, Colombia under the command of Marco Antonio Lopera-Penago with the intentions of smuggling cannabis to Juneau, Alaska.
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In 1979 a group of Cali, Colombia marijuana traffickers headed by Jaime deJesus Cordoba-Vargas and Jaime deJesus Marin-Jaramillo organized a venture to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. aboard the 168-foot motor vessel Samarkanda, a surplus U.S. Navy net tender converted to a tug and once called Alexandra.