FRENCH CONNECTION DRUG FIGURE SLAIN

PARIS -- One of the last survivors of the notorious French Connection
drug-trafficking era, Francis "the Belgian" Vanverberghe, was shot dead in
a Paris betting shop yesterday, police said.

Vanverberghe, 54, was hit several times at close range by a gunman, who
escaped on the back of an accomplice's motorbike. A bystander in the shop,
in Paris's smart Eighth Arrondissement, was injured in the attack.

Jailed for 12 years in 1977 for belonging to the French Connection drug
gang based in the southern port of Marseille, Vanverberghe was considered
one of the Mediterranean city's last underworld godfathers. The gang
inspired the 1971 Oscar-winning film "The French Connection" starring Gene
Hackman.