ARMY COLONEL'S WIFE FACING COCAINE ACCUSATIONS

WASHINGTON(AP) -- The wife of an Army colonel involved in U.S.
counternarcotics operations in Colombia is facing federal charges of
shipping cocaine to the United States, officials said yesterday.

Laurie Hiett was charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics after
the U.S. Customs Service found parcels containing cocaine, include one
package in New York that carried Hiett's name as its return address,
the officials said.

Hiett is the wife of Army Col. James Hiett, who at the time was U.S.
military group commander at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.

In that job, he was in charge of all U.S. military activities in
Colombia, including counterdrug operations, according to Col. Ron
Williams, a Southern Command spokesman.

The Army Criminal Investigation Division in Panama found Colonel Hiett
had "no prior knowledge" of cocaine shipments to the United States
involving his wife, and cleared him of any involvement in criminal
activity.