U.S. NATIVE ALLEGED TO LEAD BRAZIL DRUG RING

SAO PAULO -- Police say they have uncovered an elaborate drug-trafficking
ring masterminded by an American expatriate who recruited Brazilian Air
Force officers to smuggle cocaine to Europe on military jets.

Air Force pilots and high-ranking officers with customs clearance allegedly
stashed the narcotics in their luggage on routine military flights to Spain
and France, police said.

Authorities said this week they believe Missouri-born John Michael White,
jailed twice in Brazil on drug-related charges, was the brains behind the
operation that lasted at least one year.