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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl