SHERIFF: EX-TEAMSTERS SMUGGLED DRUGS, TOOK KICKBACKS

Two former Teamster leaders ran a drug-smuggling ring at Port Everglades,
funneled the money to make pornographic movies and took kickbacks for
placing workers on the sets of Demi Moore and Robert DeNiro movies, federal
prosecutors said Monday.

The arrests show that deep corruption and "internal conspiracies" continue
at the port and in the union, Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne said during
a joint press conference at the port with the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service
and the U.S. Attorney's Office. More arrests are expected as local and
federal investigators focus on what they called a longtime spot for
corruption and drug-running in Broward County.

Nine people were indicted, including Clarence Lark, the former president of
Teamsters Local 390, and his brother-in-law, Larry Crenshaw. Lark and
Crenshaw rigged union elections, took bribes and ran the union "through a
pattern of racketeering activity," prosecutors said. The men are accused of
importing nearly 8,000 pounds of cocaine and 85,000 pounds of marijuana
into Broward County since 1985. "Clarence Lark would seek to dominate and
control the (union) through extortion, bribery and intimidation," the
indictment said.

Two stevedores from the International Longshoreman's Association, two other
Teamsters members, a Colombian-based drug supplier and a California adult
film producer were also named in the indictment.

The Teamsters union represents about 1,700 members in South Florida, mostly
in the trucking and shipping businesses.

Lark and Crenshaw were kicked out of the union in 1996 after Teamsters
national leaders alleged that the pair mishandled money and lived lavishly
on the dues of their union members. Seven of the defendants made their
first appearances in federal court Monday.

The federal indictment outlines a broad pattern of crimes, with most of the
drug money used to fund other businesses and commit more crimes,
prosecutors said. Some of the allegations portray the union leaders as
greedy and petty, including a charge that rank-and-file Teamsters had to
pay bribes to get "choice work assignments" on TV and movie productions
such as Strip Tease and Cape Fear, which were filmed locally.

According to the indictment, Colombian supplier William Garcia sent the
drugs on ships heading to Port Everglades and passed the specifics along to
Lark Crenshaw and other defendants. Then, longshoremen Curtis Newton and
Ricardo McHorne and Teamsters Keith Lampkin and Lawrence Seymore removed
the drugs and distributed them.

Charlie Hall, a builder and associate of Lark and Crenshaw, also helped
distribute the drugs, prosecutors said.

The drug money had two main destinations: California pornographer John
Gallo and Star's Choice, a company that rents trucks and equipment to
national entertainment companies filming in South Florida, the indictment
said. Lark and Crenshaw own the rental company, prosecutors said, and used
it to launder drug money as part of the conspiracy.

Gallo, owner of adult filmmakers Klimaxxx Productions, the Bitas Group and
Triple J Enterprises, served as the chief money launderer for the group,
U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis said. Investigators first learned of Gallo two
years ago, when another drug bust at Port Everglades netted 44 people.

The port historically has been one of the top smuggling points for drug
dealers on the East Coast, federal investigators have said, and dozens of
seizures have been made in recent years. The new charges undercut
contentions by port officials that the facility's security problems are
abating.

Just last week, officials told a congressional panel that the problems were
under control.

Jenne, Lewis and Frank J. Figueroa, the special agent in charge of the
Customs Service for South Florida, scoffed at suggestions that the drug
activities are under control. The men said corruption by workers, unions
and security workers make the problem difficult to combat. Jenne said the
port has too many access roads and no checkpoints to keep tabs on
smugglers.