FREIGHTERS RAN COKE FOR CARTEL

WASHINGTON - Even with busts of this magnitude, says Customs
Commissioner Raymond Kelly, "We're never going to seize or arrest our
way out of the drug problem."

A Colombian drug kingpin who used an armada of 10 commercial
freighters to ship 68 tons of cocaine to South Florida and Europe is
under arrest, federal drug agents announced Saturday.

Authorities described the capture last week of Ivan de la Vega, 48, by
police in Venezuela as cutting off "the head of the snake," and said it
was a "major blow" to the Colombian drug trade, which exports an
estimated 300 tons of cocaine each year.

During the past three years, de la Vega's ring bought or leased mostly
Greek freighters to transport drugs in hidden compartments from the
coast of Colombia to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and such European ports as
Amsterdam, authorities said.

The ships would wait 100 miles off the Colombian coast and receive
their illegal cargo from high-powered cigarette boats.

Crews of the freighters were paid from $30,000 for the captain to
$3,000 for deckhands to smuggle the drugs, according to seized logs.

Most of the cocaine was delivered to Europe, where the street price of
a kilogram is $50,000.The same amount costs $1,700 in Colombia and
$25,000 in the United States, agents said.

U.S. Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the ring was unique
because of the "staggering amount' of drugs - worth $3 billion on the
street - that were being shipped and the "expansive reach" of the
organization to 12 countries: Colombia, the United States, Albania,
Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama, Spain, Great
Britain and Venezuela.

Venezuelan authorities arrested de la Vega on Aug. 16 along with Luis
Antonio Navia, a Colombian described as a "major investor" who was
wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States.

The pair were handed over to U.S. authorities in Miami three days later
where they were charged with conspiring to traffic cocaine.They are
being held without bail.

Another 41 suspects, including crew members of the freighters and Greek
organized crime figures, have been arrested in several countries,
authorities said.

During a two-year investigation, more than 24 tons of cocaine, worth
about $1 billion, were seized from five ships headed for U.S. and
European ports by a Customs, Drug Enforcement Agency, and Coast Guard
task force monitoring the deliveries. The 68 ton estimate was based on
what informants involved in the shipping told authorities was delivered
during the past three years.

"Certainly this is a major blow to the Colombian cartels in the short
term," Kelly said. "But no one is claiming victory in the war on drugs.
We're never going to seize or arrest our way out of the drug problem."

Kelly praised law enforcement agencies in all 12 nations for their
cooperation.

The case began with a tip from British intelligence. The smugglers
tried to conceal their activities with normal cargoes of sugar and
other commodities.

The largest single cocaine seizure was from a ship named "Castor" that
yielded more than 4 tons on June 8, 1999. Leaving dry dock in Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic in March of that year, the Castor traveled
to Veracruz, Mexico, before arriving in Miami, where it was seized.

The announcement of the arrests came days before a visit to Colombia
and other Latin American nations by President Clinton to boost efforts
to fight the drug trade. Kelly said Saturday's announcement was
unrelated to Clinton's trip.