U.S. SAYS CALI DRUG CARTEL TIED TO BOAT SEIZURES

Tampa --- Court documents reveal the seizures are part of a major drug
investigation that includes cartel figures

A secrecy-shrouded and far-reaching series of boat seizures in an
investigation into cocaine smuggling being run from Tampa is linked to an
alleged leader of Colombia's notorious Cali drug cartel, court records show.

The case first came to light last February when a rusty trawler named the
Rebelde, Spanish for Rebel, was stopped and boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard
in the eastern Pacific off Ecuador and then towed through the Panama Canal
to Tampa.

It was carrying 5 tons of cocaine and a crew of seven, U.S. agents said.

In the months since, eight more vessels have been seized in the same area
and brought to Florida. In all, more than 18 tons of cocaine worth hundreds
of millions of dollars have now been confiscated in the seizures, and 51
sailors have been arrested and brought here to stand trial on federal drug
charges.

Federal prosecutors have hinted that the cases are linked but have refused
to say how. Nor have they said how they learned of the shipments or where
the cocaine was headed.

But the recent testimony of an FBI agent has finally shed some light on the
mystery. According to a transcript, the agent testified Dec. 22 at what was
expected to be a routine pretrial hearing that the seizures are part of a
major drug investigation that in turn is linked to the arrest two years ago
of suspected drug lord Jose Castrillon- Henao.

One of Castrillon-Henao's underlings, who is also in custody, is known to
be cooperating with the investigation. And court documents suggest that
Castrillon- Henao may also be helping.

Castrillon-Henao, 48, was in the top echelon of the Cali cartel and in
charge of its maritime smuggling, prosecutors have said. He was one of 16
people charged in a high-profile, 35-page drug trafficking indictment
handed up in Tampa in 1998.

Castrillon-Henao was in Panama at the time and was promptly expelled and
brought to the United States for prosecution. He was flown into MacDill Air
Force Base on a government plane in the middle of the night on June 1,
1998, under heavy guard. He was whisked off to jail to await trial.

More than two years later, Castrillon-Henao's case has been mysteriously
stalled in federal court here. No trial date has been set. His court file
is filled with sealed documents.

Tampa attorney Danny Castillo, who is defending some of the arrested
sailors, has long suspected that Castrillon-Henao was behind the growing
string of boat seizures. If convicted, Castillo says, Castrillon-Henao
could be sentenced to life in prison. Castillo believes the suspected drug
lord is setting up the seizures to cut his prison time.

``Mr. Castrillon-Henao has the ability and the resources to create the
seizures of these old boats and poor fisherman as `sacrificial lambs,' ''
Castillo wrote in a recent motion.

The FBI agent, Rodrick Huff, was called as a prosecution witness to testify
about the second seizure in the series. It occurred in February and
involved another worn-out vessel, the Layneyd.

Huff provided details of the top-secret investigation and said the boat
seizures are tied to Castrillon-Henao and others involved with the Cali
cartel - men like Reynaldo Avenia Soto and Pedro Rafael Navarette. Soto, a
Castrillon-Henao associate, has helped with the investigation, Huff said.

The investigation began about a decade ago, Huff said, but didn't become
sharply focused until 1996 - coincidentally the year that Castrillon-Henao
was arrested on Panamanian drug charges. He fought those charges for two
years, only to be handed over to the United States after his indictment in
Tampa.

Huff said he learned that the cartel was using a number of vessels to
smuggle drugs into the United States through the eastern Pacific.

``We developed the information about the organization, and then based on
the routes that are very consistently used, we provided information to the
U.S. Coast Guard and they acted upon it,'' Huff testified.

Soto, who was arrested May 8, has given U.S. agents accounting documents
showing that the Rebelde and the Layneyd apparently were being used for
drug smuggling as early as 1998, Huff testified.

``This clearly shows this guy Castrillon is involved, which is what I've
been saying from the beginning,'' Castillo said.

The 1998 Tampa indictment accuses Castrillon-Henao and 15 others of
smuggling cocaine into central Florida, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Houston and
San Diego in secret compartments aboard ships.

Some of the drugs were seized, but other shipments got through. The
enterprise included murder and hush money, the indictment said.

Castrillon-Henao's co-defendants in that indictment included five other
Colombians, six Chileans, a Mexican, a Canadian, a Panamanian, and one
American - James Gordon Williams of Jacksonville Beach.

Williams' case illustrates how far-reaching and complex the investigation
has become. So far the prosecution has given Williams' attorneys more than
110,000 documents and more than 200 audiotapes of wiretapped conversations.

Williams' case appears to be the only one from the 1998 Cali indictment
that prosecutors are actually moving forward on. It is set for trial in April.

The seizures are continuing. The most recent occurred a little more than a
month ago when two speedboats were confiscated by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard
officials off Colombia. While being pursued, the crewmen allegedly dumped
more than 1 1/2 tons of cocaine overboard.

The earlier seizures are making their way slowly through the court system.
So far, three of the cases have come to trial. Prosecutors got convictions
in only one of them. Of the other two, one was dismissed for lack of
evidence and another ended in an acquittal. The next trial begins Jan. 8
and will involve the five crewmen on the Layneyd.

U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. has scheduled another pretrial hearing
in the Layneyd case for Tuesday, so Huff can finish testifying. Castillo
wasn't able to cross-examine him at the Dec. 22 hearing.

But therein lies another example of how hard the government is working to
keep the case shrouded in secrecy.

At the Dec. 22 hearing, Moody ordered the government to turn over Huff's
reports to Castillo by Dec. 27, so that Castillo could review them before
beginning his cross-examination.

But prosecutors filed court documents Thursday saying they've decided to
strike Huff as a witness and call others to the stand. That will enable
them to avoid surrendering Huff's reports.

The U.S. attorney's office does not comment on pending cases.

But Castillo sees this as more government stonewalling.