5 TONS OF COCAINE SEIZED IN PACIFIC

Tampa - Federal Authorities Tow Three More Boats and 12 Colombians From the
Pacific Ocean to Face Prosecutions.

Thirteen more Colombian sailors landed in U.S. District Court in Tampa on
Wednesday, caught up in what is beginning to look like an all-out assault on
drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The men were arrested June 17 and June 18 aboard three speedboats off the
coast of Ecuador. The boats were towed and arrived in the Port of Tampa on
Tuesday evening. Federal prosecutors say two of the boats were loaded with
bales of cocaine - in all, more than 5 tons.

The third boat had no drugs but was carrying extra fuel tanks, prosecutors
say. It was found about 60 nautical miles from one of the other boats, which
was ``dead in the water,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Preston said.

``This particular vessel was a floating gas station,'' he told U.S.
Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins during a brief initial-appearance hearing. ``It
was clear they were only out there for one reason and that was to fuel boats
engaging in the narcotics trade.''

When U.S. Coast Guard officials boarded the third boat, Preston said, one of
the crewmen pulled a plug in an attempt to scuttle the vessel.

Wednesday's cases bring to six the number of boats seized in the eastern
Pacific and towed to Central Florida for federal prosecution in recent
months. In all, federal officials have confiscated more than 17 tons of
cocaine and charged 30 crewmen with conspiring to distribute cocaine.

The first seizure was in February when the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the
Rebelde, a trawler flying a Colombian flag, and brought the crew to Tampa.
The Layneyd, a shrimper said to be carrying nearly 4 tons of cocaine, was
seized a month later. Prosecutors have acknowledged that those two seizures
were connected but have declined to provide details. And this month, four
speedboats have been intercepted. Prosecutors won't say whether the most
recent arrests are linked to the others - only that they're part of an
ongoing investigation being conducted by the Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Force.

For some, the arrests raise interesting and troubling questions.

``You've got the government engaging in systematic piracy. They make no
bones about it,'' said Tampa lawyer Danny Castillo, who is representing
three of the crewmen arrested at sea. ``This is a blatant violation of
international law.''

Castillo and other lawyers have challenged the U.S. government's authority
to arrest the crews on the Rebelde and the Layneyd, alleging that federal
officials failed to follow all the requirements of a U.S. treaty with
Colombia. The treaty does not cover the seizure of the speedboats, because
none of them was registered in Colombia.

Castillo also questioned why federal authorities are spending tax dollars to
police the Pacific Ocean. ``What, we don't have enough drugs here?'' he
asked.

The defendants charged Wednesday are Leonel Angulo, Marguerito Benavidas,
Henry Rivera, Augusto Perdomas, Taylor Hurtado, Leuson Valanta, Alfredo
Mosquera, Alexander Cuero, Elias Santiesteban, Pedro Luis Christoper Tinoco,
Manuel Hernandez, Tito Daniel Estupinan and Neil Pomare Hoard.

Prosecutors have asked that they remain in jail until trial.