Drug smuggler's 1715 shipwreck
I don't know if this topic has been discussed previously on this forum, but I wonder if anybody has a view on whether convicted drug smuggler Thomas Ruck had found one of the missing 1715 wrecks. Ruck was indicted in 1993 for being part of a cartel smuggling drugs from Columbia to the USA, but escaped and fled the country. He was eventually found in Hawaii in 2001, convicted and sentenced to 12-1/2 years in prison. His assets were siezed and auctioned in 2003. They included lots of shipwreck artefacts, many of which were from the 1715 fleet.
Ruck claimed that he and four friends had found a shipwreck in the mid-eighties and recovered these items. He refused to tell the authorities where it was located because he said that when he is eventually released, he intends to go back and continue looting the wreck. If this story is true, then it seems likely that Ruck and friends were looting one of the missing wrecks friom the 1715 fleet. On the other hand, he might simply have bought the treasures from somebody who had been salvaging one of the known wrecks. I think his collection included some items from the Attocha, showing that he also acquired items by buying them conventionally, and he did say that it was the story of the Attocha that inspired him to start diving.
Does anybody have a view on whether Ruck had actually recovered some of his items directly from a wreck, and whether he and his friends had found one of the three missing 1715 wrecks? Also, if this topic was discussed before I joined the forum, could somebody point me in the right direction?
Mariner
I don't know if this topic has been discussed previously on this forum, but I wonder if anybody has a view on whether convicted drug smuggler Thomas Ruck had found one of the missing 1715 wrecks. Ruck was indicted in 1993 for being part of a cartel smuggling drugs from Columbia to the USA, but escaped and fled the country. He was eventually found in Hawaii in 2001, convicted and sentenced to 12-1/2 years in prison. His assets were siezed and auctioned in 2003. They included lots of shipwreck artefacts, many of which were from the 1715 fleet.
Ruck claimed that he and four friends had found a shipwreck in the mid-eighties and recovered these items. He refused to tell the authorities where it was located because he said that when he is eventually released, he intends to go back and continue looting the wreck. If this story is true, then it seems likely that Ruck and friends were looting one of the missing wrecks friom the 1715 fleet. On the other hand, he might simply have bought the treasures from somebody who had been salvaging one of the known wrecks. I think his collection included some items from the Attocha, showing that he also acquired items by buying them conventionally, and he did say that it was the story of the Attocha that inspired him to start diving.
Does anybody have a view on whether Ruck had actually recovered some of his items directly from a wreck, and whether he and his friends had found one of the three missing 1715 wrecks? Also, if this topic was discussed before I joined the forum, could somebody point me in the right direction?
Mariner
