The United States Coast Guard (USCG) intercepted the Sunshine in international waters approximately 300 nm northeast of Bermuda. Cocaine was found on board. The defendants faced several alleged violations of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA). The defendants filed motions to dismiss and argued that their prosecution was unconstitutional as applied to them because they were not captured on the high seas. Although the defendants were identified approximately 300 nm off the coast of Bermuda, the defendants speculated that there was a possibility that they were arrested within Bermuda’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), namely, within 200 nm of Bermuda’s coast, since some evidence showed that the Sunshine was pursued by the USCG for many hours and travelled a significant distance before being intercepted.

Held: Motion denied.

The defendants relied heavily on the definition of the term 'high seas' under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), which defines the high seas as all parts of the sea that are not included in the EEZ, in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a state. In MDLEA prosecutions, it is well recognised that the high seas begin outside a country's 12 nm territorial waters, not outside the country's EEZ. Moreover, Congress's authority to criminalise conduct on the high seas does not depend on where a vessel is seized. Accordingly, even assuming that the defendants were arrested in Bermuda's territorial waters, the government may prosecute them provided the Sunshine travelled on the high seas. Therefore, provided the Sunshine was more than 12 nm outside of Bermuda's territorial waters, which it indisputably was, it is clear that the defendants were on the high seas.