Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: 8 Jan 1998

TRINIDAD OLYMPIAN CHARGED IN HUGE MARIJUANA BUST

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) -- A former Olympic track finalist was among
five men charged Thursday with possession of nearly two tons of marijuana
in Trinidad. 

Mike Paul, 41, of Trinidad, was a 400-meter finalist in the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics. He was arrested Wednesday at a warehouse in Arima, 18
miles east of Port-of-Spain, the capital. 

Police found 3,630 pounds of marijuana hidden in the warehouse, where they
arrested the five. The drugs were inside a massive crate behind a shipment
of bottled water and juice, they said. 

The crate had arrived from Jamaica and was bound for Miami, they said. 

The five were denied bail pending trial, following the hearing in
Magistrate's Court. 

Police said the shipment of compressed marijuana, with an estimated street
value of $10 million, was the largest-ever drug seizure in this twin-island
nation, which lies just off Venezuela's Caribbean coast.