$143M IN COCAINE SEIZED IN CHICAGO

CHICAGO - A massive hoard of pure cocaine with a street value of
$143 million was confiscated in the Chicago Police Department's
largest drug seizure ever, authorities said Wednesday.

Four men, two described as high-ranking members of a Mexican cartel
that specializes in smuggling cocaine over the U.S. border, were
arrested Tuesday night when police raided an auto detail shop.

"This is a tremendous seizure, and it should have an impact on the
crack cocaine dealing on the streets of Chicago," said Cmdr. Philip J.
Cline.

Authorities called reporters to a police garage where brick-shaped
kilos of cocaine with blue and yellow, balloon-like rubber wrappings
were stacked across the floor. The hoard weighed 2,500 pounds and
resembled a waist-high brick wall.

Some of the kilos were marked with designs that police described as
the trademarks of the Colombian cartels that produced the cocaine.