COCAINE THROWN FROM FREIGHTER

TAMPA - Federal agents flushed 15 pounds of cocaine from aboard a
Turkish freighter during a routine inspection Friday in the Port of
Tampa.

The ship, the Kuvser Gunes, arrived in Tampa from Colombia to pick up
fertilizer. It was searched by U.S. Customs agents, the U.S. Coast
Guard, a drug-sniffing dog and Tampa police.

Richard Lozada, acting special agent in charge of U.S. Customs in
Tampa, said that someone threw a duffel bag into the water when they
saw agents approach the vessel. The duffel bag was filled with cocaine
estimated to be worth more than $1 million.

No one had been arrested as of Friday afternoon.