Pubdate: Mon, 27 Sep 2004
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2004, The Tribune Co.
Contact:  http://www.tampatrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Author: Elaine Silvestrini of the Tribune
Note: Limit LTEs to 150 words
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

COAST GUARD SEIZES 2 COCAINE-LADEN SHIPS

TAMPA - Tampa-based investigators of ``Operation Panama Express'' have
broken records by reeling in two fishing vessels, each carrying more
than 10 tons of cocaine in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Federal authorities plan to hold a news conference in Washington this
afternoon to announce the seizure of an estimated total of 27 tons of
cocaine from the ships, the Lina Marie and the San Jose. The vessels
were boarded seven days apart by the U.S. Coast Guard using a Navy
frigate south of the Galapagos Islands about 450 miles off the coast
of Ecuador.

The cocaine had an estimated worth of about $360 million, according to
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph K. Ruddy.

``This much coke off the streets is just phenomenal,'' said Dominick
Albanese, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration's Tampa office.

The Coast Guard's interdiction of the two vessels resulted from
information developed by Panama Express, a wide-ranging Tampa-based
investigation of Colombian maritime drug traffickers, according to
Ruddy, who oversees the operation, a cooperative effort of several law
enforcement agencies, including the DEA, FBI and the Bureau of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Effective Operation

The seizures bring the amount of cocaine captured or destroyed by
Panama Express to about 310 tons in five years, according to Ruddy,
who said the operation has resulted in about 650 arrests and a
conviction rate of about 95 percent.

The previous record maritime seizure also was netted by Panama
Express, and involved the Paulo fishing vessel, which was caught in
February 2002 carrying 12 1/2 tons of cocaine, Ruddy said. ``This is a
historic couple of seizures,'' Ruddy said about the recent catches.
Both were believed to be carrying loads destined for the United States
by way of Mexico.

Estimates on the amount of cocaine trafficked into the United States
annually range from 600 to 1,200 tons, according to Ruddy.

Investigators arrested 18 Colombian crewmen, but not the person
believed to own both vessels, whom Ruddy described as a target of the
ongoing investigation. ``The walls are closing in,'' he said.

``Yesterday was a very bad day for him,'' Ruddy said Friday, the day
after the second ship was boarded by the Coast Guard. ``The
consequences for him have to be as serious as one could imagine.''

``We kind of hit the mother lode here with both of these being
connected to one organization, which is very significant,'' said Carl
Whitehead, special agent in charge of the Tampa office of the FBI.
Whitehead identified the suspected leader of the organization that
owns the vessels as Heberto ``Teque-Teque'' Estupinan of Colombia.

``I believe this is the first we've been able to interdict loads
associated with this organization,'' Whitehead said.

``This is a dangerous, dangerous fellow, this transporter,'' Ruddy said.

Few details were available about the San Jose, which was intercepted
on Thursday carrying an estimated 12 tons of cocaine. The Lina Marie
was stopped Sept. 16 and found to be carrying 15 tons of the drug.

Ruddy said that in both cases, the Coast Guard used the cover of
darkness to board the vessels in the early morning.

In the case of the Lina Marie, guardsmen approached in a rigid-hull
inflatable boat, boarded the fishing vessel and herded the 10 crewmen
onto the deck. One crewman resisted and there was a struggle for a
guardsman's handgun, Ruddy said. The lawman was not injured but the
crewman had a minor cut on the chin.

The low-slung, 65-foot fishing vessel, sailing under a Cambodian flag,
had expired registration papers, meaning it was legally considered a
pirate vessel, Ruddy said.

In addition to the cocaine, it carried about 2 tons of rotting fish,
intended as window dressing to make the boat appear more legitimate,
Ruddy said. ``Old stray cats wouldn't eat that stuff,'' the prosecutor
said, wrinkling his nose. ``Years ago, [cocaine smugglers] would have
fishermen on vessels that could fish. Now they're just
smugglers.''

Coacaine Well-Hidden

It took investigators about 12 hours to find the cocaine, which was
hidden in a compartment that was discovered because fresh paint and
wet plaster indicated recent construction had taken place, Ruddy said.
There was a total of 600 tightly wrapped bales of the drug, each
weighing about 50 pounds.

Investigators had to get off the San Jose, sailing under the flag of
Belize, Thursday night as it began taking on water. Ruddy wasn't sure
what caused the leak, but he said the Coast Guard was able to board
the vessel Friday morning and resume taking inventory.

Albanese, the DEA special agent, said investigators have been tracking
the Lina Marie and the San Jose for about two years. ``We just now got
lucky,'' he said.

``We would hope that a seizure this significant would have an impact
on the supply on the streets of this country and other countries,''
said Ray Connolly, acting special agent in charge of the Tampa
immigration and customs office.

The crew of the Lina Marie was taken to Panama and then flown to
Tampa, where U.S. Magistrate Thomas Wilson on Wednesday ordered them
held without bail on charges of cocaine possession and possession with
intent to distribute.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin