SIX-MONTH INVESTIGATION NETS 37 DRUG SUSPECTS

TAMPA -- One juvenile and 36 adults from all walks of life were
arrested in Hillsborough County this week, charged with being the
couriers in a drug-running scheme that stretched from Tampa to Miami.

Officials said the drug traffickers used cars, vans and commercial
airlines to smuggle drugs from the Miami area to Tampa. Heroin and
cocaine were sold in the areas around the University of South Florida,
Town 'N Country and west Tampa.

The 37 suspects range in age from under 18 to 48. They include a 2000
graduate of Gaither High School, a mother of two young children and a
car salesman. Some of the people arrested have been released from jail
after posting bail. Others face bail amounts up to $1-million.

And some, such as Muriel Aponte, 22, described as a ringleader, were
held without bail.

The task force seized 6 kilograms of cocaine and 1 pound of heroin,
which officials said had a street value of $500,000. They also
confiscated $91,000 in cash, 15 cars and nine guns.

The arrests followed six months of investigation by the Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a group of city, county, state and
federal officers.