FAKE BROKERS SEIZE COCAINE, MILLIONS WITH GEORGIA STING

TUCKER, Ga. -- Investigators posing as stock brokers seized $72 million
worth of cocaine -- some of which was smuggled in containers of frozen fish
- -- during an elaborate three-year sting operation.

"Operation Juno" also netted more than $10 million in drug dealers' cash
that federal undercover agents pretended to launder through the fake firm
they set up in this Atlanta suburb, federal officials said yesterday.

Five people suspected of being Colombian drug traffickers with links to the
Cali drug cartel have been indicted by a federal grand jury on money
laundering and drug trafficking charges.

Another 47 people have been arrested in other parts of the nation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission helped agents set up their phony
company, "Airmark," by issuing actual licenses. Agents then rented space in
a non-descript office complex, where the alleged smugglers occasionally met
with undercover agents.

It was the first time a stock brokerage was used in as a drug sting, said
John Andrejko, agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's
Atlanta office.

Agents did not make any stock trades, but did actually launder $16.2 million
to keep up appearances.

Agents took in the money during 59 pickups in public places such as the
streets of Rome, Italy, and New York and mall parking lots in Chicago and
Baltimore. The cash was handed to agents in duffel bags filled with $100,000
to $500,000, and then funneled through several accounts.