61 WARRANTS SPELL END OF COCAINE RING

Hillsborough's Officers Had Worked With Other Agencies For a Year to Nab
Dealers in a $10-Million Drug Business

TAMPA -- The sting operation was dubbed "Gallo Frito." Fried Rooster.

A taped phone conversation between two men bragging about their leadership
roles in a large Tampa-based cocaine ring led detectives to coin the phrase.

"They claimed to be the roosters of the henhouse, never the chickens," Tampa
police Detective Gary Russ said as he stood outside the West Tampa police
station Tuesday morning, having barely slept during the previous 30 hours.

Russ was a lead player in a yearlong, multiagency investigation into a
$10-million cocaine business. The investigation culminated Tuesday with
officers serving 61 arrest warrants, mostly in West Tampa.

"I think this is a significant bust for the community," said Robert
Michelotti, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.

At last count, police had arrested 28 of the 61 people named in the
warrants. Among those taken to jail were Jose Luis Duran, who worked at the
Shangrila restaurant on N Dale Mabry Highway, and Juan Rojas Garcia, manager
of the Dollar Store on N Dale Mabry Highway. They each were charged with
trafficking and several counts of racketeering, which carries a maximum
penalty of 30 years in prison.

The powder cocaine was exported from Colombia, brought through Miami and
driven to Tampa, agents said. Once here, it trickled down through several
rungs of dealers until it was sold in local bars, at strip clubs and in
people's houses. Sometimes, it was delivered to clients' homes, officers
said.

In all, the organization was selling about 20 ounces of cocaine daily,
amounting to a $16,000 profit, Russ said. About 10 percent of the powder was
converted into crack rocks and sold on corners, they said.

Detectives were unable to arrest or even identify the organization's
kingpin. His drug-dealing underlings referred to him in taped phone
conversations only as "Gordo," the Spanish word for a heavy-set man, police
said.

Outside the police department Tuesday, a confiscated new black Lexus gleamed
in the hot sun, along with several Ford Expeditions that officers said were
used to shuttle drugs or were bought with drug money by those arrested
Tuesday. In total, 18 cars were seized.

"I think they're living pretty well," Michelotti said.

Agents got a tip about the drug ring and tracked the comings and goings of
numerous people they said were drug dealers, said Dana Friedlander,
assistant state attorney. With that evidence, A Hillsborough County judge
granted them a 30-day wire tap of numerous cellular and standard phones.
They were recently given a 30-day extension, she said.

Two weeks ago, detectives started making the first mid-level arrests. That
didn't stop the others from dealing, they said. Police said they aren't
going after the drug users, only the dealers.