Pubdate: Sat, 15 Sep 2001
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Section: Metro
Copyright: 2001, The Tribune Co.
Contact:  http://www.tampatrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

COCAINE SMUGGLERS SENTENCED TO PRISON

TAMPA -- Seven South American sailors caught in the dragnet of a major 
federal drug investigation were sentenced Thursday to lengthy prison terms 
for trying to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

The men were aboard a speedboat seized by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy in 
the Pacific off South America. Authorities found three-quarters of a ton of 
cocaine on the boat and in water nearby,

The vessel was one of more than a dozen loaded with cocaine worth hundreds 
of millions of dollars that authorities have seized in the past 18 months. 
The investigation, code-named Operation Panama Express, is aimed at 
toppling the leaders of Colombia's notorious Cali cartel.

U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. delivered the sentences as follows: 
Manuel Antes Garces, 9 years; Silvio Orejuela Ceron, 5 years, 10 months; 
Jesus Alberto Barrasa Mesa, 10 years, 1 month; Livio Rengifo Revelo, 13 
years, 3 months; Nargel Paredes, Luis Eduardo Martinez Renteria and Luis 
Miguel Porto-Carredo Estupinan, 11 years, 3 months. All had previously 
pleaded guilty to drug charges.
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