Reel Screamer Update: Capt. John Released!

[La Gringa]

That IS good news but still he was in there a long time..!!! I hope he gets his boat back...

[Robja]

Thanks for posting Swami. It is good the hear he is on his way back safely.

[Swami]

Here's the outline of the story--let me be clear that I am only relating this for my friend Scott Rickert, whose father owns the Reel Screamer. I've fished numerous times with Scott and his father on this boat in Los Suenos. JD (Blackwell50 here)was a mate for a couple years on this rig before moving on to greener pastures, so he also knows the Rickerts and Capt. John very well.

John was tasked with bringing the 74-foot Viking, Reel Screamer, to Miami from Costa Rica prior to the Miami Boat Show this year--the boat was to be displayed for sale at the show since Mr. Rickert has a new 82-foot Viking on order. John stopped for fuel in San Andreas, which is an island on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal and is also a Columbian territory. He's made this trip several times in the past, stopping in the same places along the way.

On the way to Florida he hit bad weather and elected to duck into Isla Mujeres for a day to let it pass. John followed all procedures for checking in, including declaring the firearms he had on board, which were apparently a Ruger semi-auto rifle, a pump shotgun and a Colt .45 pistol, standard boat-defense guns. He has been in Mexico before with these same weapons and knows the procedure to declare the weapons and ammo. Let me say here that I've never met a more professional or knowledgeable captain than John Peerson. He would never jeopardize either his job or the boat by doing something illegal, dishonest or even slightly wrong--he's very much a by the book straight arrow when it comes to his profession as a captain.

However, this time, they hit John with a new law that Mexico has started enforcing because of the drug cartel violence that basically says any weapon that's magazine-fed or is above .22 in caliber is for the use of the military or police and is illegal to possess. It also didn't help that he was entering Mexican waters with his last stop being in Columbia--this raised a big red flag for the authorities. They tore the boat apart looking for drugs or additional weapons (finding nothing) and charged Capt. John with introducing illegal firearms into Mexico. The authorities summarily impounded the boat and carted John off to prison in Cancun. His crew was also arrested but were released after 24 hours.

It's taken several months and the efforts of a lot of people around the world to get John released, but now he's home safely with his wife in Destin. The boat is still impounded but the family hopes it will be released soon. Unfortunately she was damaged in the process, stripped of most of the fishing gear, and allowed to sit unattended with no power for several months as they did not allow anyone aboard her, so the boat is undoubtedly trashed.

The bottom line is to be very careful bringing firearms into Mexico, even if you declare them, and to have an intimate understanding of their laws regarding weapons like this.

As for me, I will be avoiding Mexico for the near future, and probably forever. I don't give a flying you-know-what how good the sailfishing is off Isla Mujeres--I'm going to Costa Rica or Guatemala instead, where they actually appreciate people coming to their country and spending money. Hell, I might even boycott Taco Bell...