3,800 GALLONS OF LIQUID COCAINE SEIZED FROM VESSEL

TAMPA - The investigators of "Operation Panama Express" have seized
an unprecedented shipment of 3,800 gallons of cocaine in liquid form
aboard an Ecuadorian fishing vessel in the Eastern Pacific.

The milky-white syrup was in the fish hold of a vessel named the
Emperador that was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard on April 25,
according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph K. Ruddy, who oversees
the Tampa-based international investigation of Colombian drug trafficking.

Ruddy said authorities have seen liquid cocaine before, but always in
smaller quantities - smuggled in rum bottles, for instance. This, he
said, was the largest seizure of the liquid form of cocaine by far.
He said the substance has a strong odor similar to ammonia.

Ruddy said he did not know the purpose behind the liquid form, other
than possibly to avoid detection by law enforcement. A chemist
calculated that a gallon of the substance would make roughly 2
kilograms of powdered cocaine. Ruddy said authorities think the
liquid was to have been processed into powder in Mexico before being
shipped to the United States or another country.

The crew consisted of 16 Ecuadorians and one Colombian, Ruddy said.
Ecuador will prosecute its citizens, and the Colombian, Javier
Perdomo-Reyes, will be tried in Tampa.

Operation Panama Express has more than 80 agents and analysts working
from Tampa to recruit and develop sources of information about
maritime cocaine trafficking. The agents come from the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Coast
Guard and sheriff's deputies from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.

Ruddy said that after the Coast Guard intercepted the fishing vessel,
it had to haul it back to Ecuador because it had no other way to move
the liquid cargo. In Ecuador, a chemist tested the substance while
the Colombian crew member was detained aboard a U.S. Navy ship and
the others were held in Ecuador. Once the tests were completed,
authorities decided to bring drug trafficking charges. Boldness And
Recklessness

Two analysts who track cocaine policy and interdictions said the
large liquid cocaine seizure was novel.

"This is new to me," said Adam Isaacson, senior associate at the
Center for International Policy's Colombia Program. He said carrying
that much vile-smelling liquid "seems like a bad plan," given that
vessels traveling in that area have a good chance of being boarded by
law enforcement.

John Walsh, senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin
America, said traffickers seem to be displaying a "mixture between
boldness and recklessness. ... One of the implications of that
boldness bordering on recklessness seems to be there's plenty of
cocaine in production in Columbia and other source countries."

Traffickers seem willing to risk losing large loads of cocaine, he
said, which could mean there is plenty in production and that U.S.
cocaine eradication efforts are having minimal effect.

As further evidence of that, Walsh noted that estimates of the price
and purity of cocaine available on U.S. streets are heading in the
wrong direction. The price, he said, is historically low and the
purity is high. "Those are indicators of availability," he said.
March 18 Seizure

At the same time Perdomo appeared in U.S. District Court on Monday,
two Mexican men Ruddy said were behind a record-breaking load of 21
tons of cocaine also had a court appearance. That load was seized
March 18 aboard the freighter Gatun off the coast of Panama. It was a
record for the Coast Guard.

Ruddy said the two - Jesus Ernesto Mondragon-Garcia and Jose Alonzo
Nunez-Gutierrez - were arrested in Panama as they attempted to leave
the country after the cocaine was loaded onto the Gatun within a day
before the ship was intercepted.

The two defendants told U.S. Magistrate Mary Scriven they have
college degrees. Mondragon said he has a master's degree, and Nunez
said he has a bachelor's.

Ruddy said one or both of the men have said they worked as an
attorney. He said the two were the organizers of the Gatun load, but
he declined to characterize them further or provide other details.