Newport Yacht Ravaged by Drug Agents in Mexico

Over the weekend, more than 30 Mexican narcotics agents off the island port of Cozumel seized and boarded the Rusalka, an 87-foot motor yacht worth more than $2 million and based in Newport Harbor.

The owner says some agents ripped open the suede ceiling covers, slashed the mauve and white upholstery made of silk and rummaged through the holds as other agents tore up teak woodwork from stem to stern with sledgehammers. Also ruined were hand-woven carpets from Hong Kong and gold-plated fixtures in the heads, he said.

Within two days, the custom interior of the gleaming white yacht that won the 1987 Newport Harbor boat show and graced the pages of Show Boat magazine was in shambles. No drugs were found, the owner says, but two deckhands were jailed before the skipper could raise anchor and flee to Key West, Fla.

“It’s an absolute mess,” said Igor Olenicoff, an Irvine developer who bought the sleek vessel three years ago for pleasure.

Olenicoff, 47, who owns Olen Properties Corp., said Wednesday that he, his crew and the Rusalka are the innocent victims of a “war of words” between the United States and Mexico over the torture-slaying of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique (Kiki) Camarena Salazar.

Olenicoff and the corporation’s attorney, Donald E. Studer, say they are considering a federal lawsuit against Mexican authorities responsible for the damage and have asked the U.S. State Department to look into the matter.

“In speaking with Washington, D.C., it is clear to me there is a war of words between the U.S. and Mexico over drug policy,” Olenicoff said. “Someone ought to be telling boaters and tourists about this. They ought to be made aware that we might not be safe down there.”

Bryant Salter, the U.S. consul in Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula, said that details of the incident are sketchy and that U.S. authorities have sought an explanation from Mexico. He said there have not been many complaints about Mexican law enforcement officials from boaters.

Why Olenicoff’s yacht was searched and the two crewmen arrested remains unclear, Salter said, except that the deckhands were wanted for questioning in some type of investigation. He added that, to his knowledge, no drugs were found on the vessel.

Jorge Reyes, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, declined to comment Wednesday, saying that officials have not received much information about the incident.

Low on fuel and without food or water, the Rusalka arrived in Key West late Wednesday afternoon. Aboard were the skipper, Robert Ambrosius, 27, of Orange and his wife, Tammy, 21. Both were ill and exhausted.

Olenicoff said it was the end of a harrowing experience that began after the yacht anchored off Cozumel during an extended cruise of the Caribbean and waters off the eastern United States.

According to Olenicoff’s and Robert Ambrosius’ account, six Mexican drug agents who flew in from Cancun boarded the Rusalka on Saturday and began the extensive search. The next day, 26 agents returned with sledgehammers and crowbars.