COPYRIGHTED BY THE AUTHOR DEC-8-05

Seven drug dealers gathered at the dock of a home in the middle of Spanish Moss Condos. Three left turns of the Canal and a fisherman sat bayside on the bulkhead, his fishing pole tied to a useless float because the pole itself served as the antenna for the remote control he held. One mile off shore another antenna slowly rose out of the Gulf seas into the heavy fog and picked up the homing signal. Six feet below the rough surface inside the conning tower of a tiny submarine the controls turned the drug laden boat toward the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Clearwater,Florida. Clearwater is deep within the coastline of the United States of America, a coastline still patroled by the Coast Guard and more than a dozen other DEA-based agencies.

Just over the city line of Clearwater a small canal leads into the Spanish Moss Condomuium Estates with its web of canals. Less than a third of the owners are some form of undercover DEA; Feds, State, County, or City with even one Home Land Security family. The HLS family bought their condo right off the bay entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. A non-descript break in the sea wall on the east shore of the St. Pete Peninsula. Once a week the HLS family hosted a
"Bar-B-Que Party" for their neighbors. Over the months the non-dea families faded out of the delibertly boring festivities. Leaving only the DEA people who turned the weekly event into think tank sessions on how the drugs were getting into Florida with apparent ease and how to stop this influx.

At midnight of one weekly DEA meeting a thirty foot long, eight foot diameter, submarine eased into the shallow 18 foot water of the Spanish Moss Main Canal and picked up the radioed program of directions to the dockside home where the drug dealers waited. Like most of Spanish Moss, this home had a clearly visible boat house with two boats and a third empty slip. Slowly the toy sized sub lifted its conning tower clear of the canal's smooth surface easing its stern around into the empty slip. As the prop basket neared the rear wall, a wall section lay down into the water and allowed the stern to ease into the hidden tunnel until the bow could be hidden by the slips front gate. The overhead dry dock crane removed the conning tower almost before the workers could undo the tie-downs. Six of the smaller men jumped into the opening as soon as they could slip under the tower's inside bulkhead extensions. A small conveyor slid down to the edge of the boat's bulkhead and packages of assorted colors and shapes began running out of the hold. Topside men on each side of the belt grabbed packages according to their style and carried them to a line of yard-tractor trailers. Slowly the bins began to fill. One by One tractors hooked up to the full bins and rolled out a back door into the night and up to the open rear doors of delivery and servicer vans. The emptied bins were towed back to the dock for refills.

TO BE CONTINUED
COPYRIGHTED BY AUTHOR 8-DEC-05