U.S., COLOMBIA MAKE HUGE COCAINE BUST ON HIGH SEAS

BOGOTA (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday seized three tons of
Colombian cocaine, worth up to $510 million, in international waters of the
Pacific Ocean, in the latest high seas drug bust carried out in conjunction
with the Colombian Navy, Colombian officials said.

Adm. Carlos Humberto Pineda, commander of Colombia's Pacific Fleet, said
two boats had been boarded and five people arrested in the operation, which
took place off the coasts of the Central American states of Panama and
Costa Rica.

The huge cocaine haul was found aboard a Colombian-registered fishing
vessel and was due to be transferred to a larger ship and taken to the
United States.

More than 12 tons of Colombian cocaine has been seized in international
waters of the Pacific this year, according to Pineda. The latest
consignment is thought to have been shipped from Colombia's main Pacific
Coast port of Buenaventura.

Colombia is responsible for producing or refining 80 percent of the world's
cocaine and is a growing supplier of heroin to the United States, according
to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). A gram (0.035 ounce) of
pure cocaine sells for around $170 on U.S. streets, according to the DEA.

Sources close to Colombia's drug trafficking underworld said the latest
cocaine seizures in international waters were not the result of joint
intelligence work by U.S. and Colombian authorities but had been
surrendered by drug mob leaders themselves as part of an immunity from
prosecution deal.

The sources said a number of Colombia drug traffickers have recently cut
deals with the DEA, handing over part of their wealth, revealing drug
transport routes, surrendering shipments and breaking ties with the illicit
trade in return for getting immunity in the United States. U.S. authorities
have not confirmed those claims.