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Boarding Officer Law Reference

CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS

8 USC 1324: Illegal Alien Smuggling

Whoever knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, any alien not duly admitted by immigration officials

14 USC 88c: False distress

An individual who knowingly and willfully communicates a false distress message to the Coast Guard or causes the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when no help is needed is guilty of a class D felony; subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000; and liable for all costs the Coast Guard incurs as a result of the individual’s action.

18 USC 111: Assault on a Federal Officer

Whoever forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any officer or employee of the United States or of any agency in any branch of the United States Government (including any member of the uniformed services) while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties

18 USC 113: Assault within the SMTJ

Within the SMTJ, unlawfully applies force, attempts to apply force, or offers with the apparent ability to apply force to another person

18 USC 201: Bribery of a public official

Whoever directly or indirectly gives, offers, or promises anything of value to any public official with intent to influence any official act

18 USC 661: Theft within the SMTJ

Whoever, within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, takes and carries away, with intent to steal or purloin, any personal property of another

18 USC 922g: Firearms, Unlawful Acts

It shall be unlawful for any person—

(1) who has been convicted in any court of a felony

(2) who is a fugitive from justice;

(3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance

(4) who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;

(5) who, being an alien is illegally or unlawfully in the United States

(6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

(7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;

(8) who is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner or person

(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,

to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

18 USC 2199: Stowaways

Whoever, without the consent of the owner, charterer, master, or person in command of any vessel, or aircraft, with intent to obtain transportation, boards, enters or secrets himself aboard such vessel or aircraft and is thereon at the time of departure of said vessel or aircraft from a port, harbor, wharf, airport or other place within the jurisdiction of the United States

18 USC 2232: Destruction of property to prevent seizure

Whoever, before, during, or after any search for or seizure of property by any person authorized to make such search or seizure, knowingly destroys, damages, wastes, disposes of, transfers, or otherwise takes any action, or knowingly attempts to destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, transfer, or otherwise take any action, for the purpose of preventing or impairing the Government’s lawful authority to take such property into its custody or control

18 USC 2237: Failure to heave to, Obstruction of boarding, Providing false information

(1) It shall be unlawful for the master, operator, or person in charge of a vessel of the United States, or a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to knowingly fail to obey an order by an authorized Federal law enforcement officer to heave to that vessel.

(2) It shall be unlawful for any person on board a vessel of the United States, or a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to—

(A) forcibly resist, oppose, prevent, impede, intimidate, or interfere with a boarding or other law enforcement action authorized by any Federal law or to resist a lawful arrest; or

(B) provide materially false information to a Federal law enforcement officer during a boarding of a vessel regarding the vessel’s destination, origin, ownership, registration, nationality, cargo, or crew

18 USC 2275: Scuttling

Whoever sets fire to, tampers with the motive power or instrumentality of navigation, places bombs or explosives in or upon, or does any other act to or upon a US vessel anywhere (except in another nations TTS) or a foreign vessel in US TTS with the intent to injure or endanger the safety of the vessel, cargo, or persons onboard

18 USC 2314: Transportation of stolen goods

Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers in interstate or foreign commerce any goods, wares, merchandise, securities or money, of the value of $5,000 or more, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted or taken by fraud

19USC 70: Hindrance of a Boarding Officer

If the master of any vessel shall obstruct or hinder, or shall intentionally cause any obstruction or hindrance to any officer in lawfully going on board such vessel, for the purpose of carrying into effect any of the revenue or navigation laws of the United States

19 USC 1581d: Failure to stop

Any vessel directed to come to a stop by any officer of the customs, or is directed to come to a stop by signal made by any vessel employed in the service of the customs and displaying proper insignia, shall come to a stop, and upon failure to stop shall become subject to pursuit

19 USC 1703: Seizure and forfeiture of vessels

Whenever any vessel which shall have been built, purchased, fitted out in whole or in part, or held, in the United States or elsewhere, for the purpose of being employed to defraud the revenue or to smuggle any merchandise into the United States said vessel and its cargo shall be seized and forfeited.

21 USC 844: Controlled Substance, Simple Possession

Shoreward of 3NM from the baseline, knowingly or intentionally possesses a controlled substance (measurable amount), unless prescribed by a physician

26 USC 5861d: Firearms, Prohibited Acts

It shall be unlawful for any person to receive or possess a firearm which is not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. (ATF Form 5320.4 is required to be with the weapon at all times)

26 USC 5861(g, h, i, j): Firearms, Serial Number and Transportation Violations

It shall be unlawful for any person

(g) to obliterate, remove, change, or alter the serial number or other identification of a firearm required by this chapter; or

(h) to receive or possess a firearm having the serial number or other identification required by this chapter obliterated, removed, changed, or altered; or

(i) to receive or possess a firearm which is not identified by a serial number as required by this chapter; or

(j) to transport, deliver, or receive any firearm in interstate commerce which has not been registered as required by this chapter

31 USC 5316: Exporting/ Importing Monetary Instruments

Knowingly transports, is about to transport, or has transported, monetary instruments of more than $10,000 at one time into the United States from or through a place outside the United States.

46 USC 1903: Controlled Substances, Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act

An individual may not knowingly or intentionally manufacture or distribute, or possess with intent to manufacture or distribute, a controlled substance on board a vessel of the United States or a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; or any vessel if the individual is a citizen of the United States or a resident alien of the United States

46 USC 8103: Command of a US vessel by an alien

Except as otherwise provided in this title, only a citizen of the United States may serve as master, chief engineer, radio officer, or officer in charge of a deck watch or engineering watch on a documented vessel.

If a documented vessel is deprived for any reason of the services of an individual (except the master and the radio officer) when on a foreign voyage and a vacancy consequently occurs, until the vessel’s return to a port at which in the most expeditious manner a replacement who is a citizen of the United States can be obtained, an individual not a citizen of the United States may serve in the vacancy

Referenced from Cornell University Law School website: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/