DEFENSE RECORDS RETURNED IN DRUG CASE

TAMPA - A week after federal authorities seized documents critical to
the defense of a man accused of being a drug kingpin, the government
has returned those documents to his lawyers.

A U.S. magistrate judge Friday prohibited anyone involved in the
seizure from speaking about the records. Regardless, defense lawyers
have asked the judge to throw out the charges against Joaquin Mario
Valencia-Trujillo.

Valencia-Trujillo faces charges that he was once a leader in the Cali
drug cartel. He was the most-wanted suspect after a 10-year federal
drug investigation run from Tampa. Valencia-Trujillo's trial is
scheduled to begin June 5.

On May 4, an investigator for Valencia-Trujillo's defense attorneys
was returning from Colombia, where he interviewed witnesses. He said
he was carrying an outline of the defense strategy. A customs agent at
Miami International Airport seized the paperwork. Although officials
at the U.S. attorney's office said no one involved in the prosecution
saw the documents, they were kept at the Tampa office.