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Nothing ever happens on Big Pine Key and we
usually like it that way. The only things of note to
ever happen here was the Spanish landing in the 1600s, the burning
down of the Big Pine Inn in the 1970s and the Big Pine
29 Bust in 1980. There might have been something else,
but it escapes me. ~Ed
A very special thanks to Major Monty Seals who ran the
operation. At the initial approach
to the house there were 2 Customs agents, Seals and
another, the other 3 were Sheriff's deputies one of whom
was Mike Barber.
They captured 29 smugglers, and only missed
two who swam away. 29 out of 31 is a pretty good score
for only 5 men against 32 armed smugglers!
This page is compiled mostly from Major Seals' scrap
book.
From the Miami
Herald
November 14, 1980
Merchants and Refugees Among the 30Arrested
By Michael Capuzzo and Robert Rivas
Herald Staff Writers
Law enforcement officers raided a Keys smuggling
operation Saturday and busted an assortment of Key
West's establishment: the head of the Sears men's
department, a Chevrolet dealer, w Pepsi Cola truck
driver and a county commissioner's uncle.
There also were grandfathers, a plumber, a power company
engineer, a crewman from the first vessel to arrive in
Key West in the Cuban boatlift last March, and the
brother he brought back from Cuba.
In all, 30 people were charged in U.S. District Court
with drug trafficking. Authorities said it the most
defendants in a single Keys bust and among the most ever
in any Florida bust.
Fifteen
agents from three agencies seized 25,000 pounds of
marijuana in the pre-dawn bust on Big Pine Key.
"Everyone's a good friend or family of a number of
people." Sheriff William A. Freeman said of the
suspects, who were greeted by about 40 red-eyed
relatives at the Monroe County jail as they were booked.
"It's like a big family reunion with five or six
families," said another officer, gazing at the crowd of
kin that included two defendants in this year's
celebrated Key West Cop Case.
Agents of the Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Customs
Service and the Florida Marine Patrol culminated a month-long investigation at 4 a.m., seizing
three boats, three trucks and a gold Cadillac.
Among the arrested:
Domingo F. Galvan, 44, a registered nurse at Key West's
tiny DePoo Memorial Hospital. On March 21. Galvan
returned from Cuba aboard the Blanchie III and was the
first Cuban-American to announce that Cuba had opened
the harbor to the Freedom Flotilla. He said then that he
had gone to get his brother Sergio, 40.
Sergio Galvan was arrested Saturday, too.
Nelson (Ping-Ping) Jamarado, 41, the wiry, bearded
former boat mechanic who early this year bought a share
of Bevis-Lewis Chevrolet Inc. of Key West. The owner of
a shrimp boat that was seized off Texas last year with
33 tons of marijuana aboard. Jamarado 50, the owner of
David Electric Inc., an electrical contractor that
frequently wins large contracts with Monroe County and
the city of Key West. He's the uncle of County
Commissioner Jerry Hernandez and the brother of former
Key West police Chief Eugene Hernandez:
Manuel Sanchez, 57, manager of the men's department at
Key West's Sears Roebuck & Co. store in Searstown Plaza
on North Roosevelt Boulevard, and his brother Antonio,
54, a jewelry salesman.
Richard Allen Shank, 31, who drives a Pepsi Cola
delivery truck in Key West.
Francisco Hernandez, 58, an engineer for the Key West
City Electric System and a former civilian fire fighter
at the Key West Naval Air Station.
The investigation started a month ago. Based on
anonymous tips, Customs, Sheriff's Department and Marine
Patrol aircraft began watching the Big Pine Key area,
officials said.
Friday night, it became clear they were about to hit pay
dirt, and officers added men to their stakeout in a
posh neighborhood along a mangrove swamp just north of
U.S. 1.
The site is an isolated lagoon on Florida Bay.
On foot and in boats, law officers surprised the
smugglers, shutting off their escape by land and sea.
The 30 suspects surrendered peacefully. "We didn't fire
a single shot," a Customs agent said. "It was a routine
bust."
Authorities confiscated 500 50-pound bales of pot, a
40-foot Marathon-based lobster boat, the Miss Lucy, two
trucks, a 1980 Ford van, a Chevy pickup with a camper, a
1979 gold Cadillac and two 24- foot T-craft, boats
designed for back-country fishing that are popular with
smugglers because they can haul huge loads over shallow
water at high speed.
They also took at least a half dozen guns, including
several satin steel, pearl-handled handguns, and a
replica of a Colt .45.
Freeman said he was eager to gain title to the smuggling
vehicles for his department. However, he dreaded the
prospect of storing the marijuana.
The sheriff's department already has more than 1,100
bales of pot stored in 16 vehicles under armed guards
just outside Freeman's office window. Officials say they
haven't been able to destroy it because of a paperwork
backlog.
Because the defendants were charged in federal court
instead Circuit Court, Customs took the marijuana to Miami - saving the sheriff's
department the burden of storing it. The 30 persons
arrested were booked at the Monroe County Jail and
questioned before being sent to a U.S. magistrate for bond
hearings Saturday night.
They were charged with trafficking in marijuana,
possession of over 2,000 pounds of marijuana and
conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. Other
charges, such as possession of a concealed weapon by
several defendants, were pending.
Those arrested are:
Geiger Key Resident:
Jamardo, 10 Egret Lane
Key West Residents:
Francisco Hernandez, 3000 Flagler Ave.
Antonio Hernandez, 1803 Atlantic Blvd.
Sergio Galvan, 373E Paula St.
Domingo Galvan, 1612 United St.
Richard Allen
Shank, 3533 Flagler Ave.
Manuel Sanchez, 1122 Watson St.
Antonio Sanchez, 1803 Atlantic Blvd.
Plumber Fermin Tapia, 41, of 1701 Jamaica Dr.
Vicente Jose Martinez, 36, 3817 Northside Ct.
Fisherman Enrique Blasco, 19, 1504 Laird St.
Two Friends Fish Co. fishermen Jose Monzon Garcia, 44,
Key West Villas No. 29.
Stock Island Residents:
Fisherman Paco Novalas, 23, 221 Stock Island Apartments
Construction worker Ralph Jesus Valdez, 37, 5 Sunshine
St.
Richard Lee Mungin, 37, No. 4 Sloan's Trailer Park
Juan Manuel Venegas, 29, 837 Eighth Ave.
Fisherman Michael Patrick O'Brien, 22, 216 Lincoln
Gardens.
Big Pine Key Residents:
Fisherman Mitchell Earl Noatch, 22, Box 790
Marathon Residents:
Edward Ronan, 57, Tarpon Lodge
Rafael Francisco Lopez, 42, P.O. Box 713
Fisherman Greg Collazo, 25, Gulf Crain Hamit
Fisherman Bernardo Lewis Valiente, 25, 300 East 63rd
St.
Dade County residents arrested were:
Orlando Vidal Maldonado, 42, 1265 W. Fourth Lane
Nestor Fernandez, 30, 4572 SW 127th Ct.
Coral Fish Market owner Raul Hernandez, 44, 3811 SW
88th Place
Rolando Aguiar, 30, 4132 SW 102nd Court
Catalino Rioseco Chambrot, 35, 10351 SW 56th St.
Angel Cruz, 29, 2421 SW 129th Ave.
Fisherman Carmelo Fernandez, 28, 5472 SW 127th Ct.
The only person who listed at out-of-state address was
Norman Lee Young, 30, 110 Gum Tree Rd., Hilton Head.
S.C.
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