EX-HIALEAH OFFICER ACCUSED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING

A former Hialeah police officer has been indicted on charges that he
ran drugs, served as lookout for members of a drug-trafficking
operation and gave them information on police activities while on the
force.

Osvaldo Guillermo Heredia, 40, of 4821 Grapevine Way, was arrested
Monday morning at his Davie home, after the weekend arrests of four
others who have been indicted on related charges.

Two more arrests are pending before the nine-year investigation by the
Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service and Hialeah
Police concludes, said John Schlesinger, spokesman for the Miami-Dade
state attorney's office.

Heredia, fired by Hialeah Police in 1994 for leaving the city limits
while on duty, was involved in a trafficking ring that already has
yielded 19 other arrests, authorities say.

"We have evidence that while he was a Hialeah police officer, he used
his cruiser to transport cocaine," said Pamela Brown, DEA spokeswoman.
"He also provided security for cocaine loads and gave intelligence
information about law enforcement activities."

Heredia, now a real estate agent, is being held at the Federal
Detention Center in Miami until a Thursday hearing.

Arrested last weekend on drug charges were four Miami men: Miguel A.
Martin Jr., 44; Guillermo Cabrera, 56; Sixto J. Farrat, 38; and Jorge
Menendez, 43.

Schlesinger said all were part of an operation run by reputed kingpin
Mario I. Gonzalez out of Miami International Airport.

According to the charges, Farrat and Menendez, cargo handlers at Air
France, would separate marked cargo boxes that contained cocaine.

Heredia was paid to oversee delivery and distribution and keep
Gonzalez aware of police activity, Schlesinger said.

He also said Martin distributed cocaine and laundered money for the
organization and hid Gonzalez, who is a fugitive.

Cabrera, who at the time owned AGR Electronics, provided cellular
phone service to members under fake names and helped launder money,
Schlesinger said.

Hialeah fired Heredia after he allegedly left the city while on duty
to help a friend get a driver's license. But the department had been
suspicious of his alleged drug activity since 1989, according to a
written statement released by Hialeah Police.

However, Heredia was not fired until Mayor Raul Martinez reviewed the
case in 1994, the statement said.

Authorities say the ring tried to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms
of cocaine -- valued at more than $20 million.