AS BUCKS TRIAL OPENS, SUSPECT IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

Miguel "Big Joe" Garcia Was Working With State Police On A Drug Case.

Doylestown -- Miguel "Big Joe" Garcia, The Alleged Leader Of One Of The
Largest Drug Rings In The Philadelphia Region, Did Not Show Up For Court
Yesterday As His Trial On Cocaine Charges Was Scheduled To Begin.

There Was Silence When Bucks County Court Judge Isaac Garb Called Garcia's
Name So That He Could Face Charges That He Had Supplied Cocaine To An
Organization That Sold To Buyers In Philadelphia, Bucks County And Beyond.
Garcia's Absence Was Not Unexpected.

"He's On The Lam," T. Gary Gambardella, Bucks County Deputy District
Attorney, Said Yesterday After Garb Issued A Bench Warrant For Garcia's
Arrest.

Garcia, 29, Escaped State Police Custody On Sept. 12 While Working With
Investigators To Implicate An Associate In The Drug Ring, According To
Court Documents. After A 17-month Investigation, Authorities Seized 228
Pounds Of Cocaine With An Estimated Street Value Of $16 Million.

In A Related Court Hearing Yesterday, Carlos Grajales, Garcia's 19-year-old
Cousin From Colombia, Was Sentenced To Three To Six Years In State Prison
For His Role In The Operation.

Speaking Through An Interpreter, Grajales Told Judge Cynthia M. Rufe That
He Had No Knowledge Of Garcia's Drug Activities. "I Was Here Three Months
In The U.s.," Grajales Said. "I Didn't Know That Miguel, My Cousin, Was
Involved In Drugs."

Authorities Say Garcia, A Colombian National Who Lived On Fordham Road In
Northeast Philadelphia, Supplied Cocaine To The Drug Ring, Which Had Ties
To Gangs In Latin America And New York City.

The Alleged Ringleader Of The Organization, Luis Rivera, 32, Of The 9000
Block Of Covenant Road In Northeast Philadelphia, And His Associates Would
Travel To New York To Pick Up South American Cocaine Shipments Arranged By
Garcia, Then Drive Them Back To Philadelphia, Authorities Say. The Drugs
Were Then Distributed Throughout Philadelphia And Its Suburbs, Including
South Jersey, Authorities Say.

Rivera, Who Was Arrested In Hilltown, Bucks County, On Aug. 26, Cooperated
With Investigators And Implicated Garcia. In A Meeting Arranged By Rivera,
Garcia And Grajales Arrived At Rivera's Home On Sept. 1 To Pick Up $19,000
In Drug Money And A Buick Lesabre Packed With 104 Kilograms Of Cocaine,
Only To Be Arrested By State And Federal Officers.

Yesterday, Gambardella Acknowledged That Grajales Had Played Only A
Marginal Role. "It Appears He Was Just Along For The Ride," He Said. "But
The Ride Happened To Be With A Major Cocaine Organization."

Yesterday, Rufe Sentenced Grajales To Three To Six Years In State Prison
And 10 Years Of Probation On Four Felony Drug-related Charges. Grajales
Also Is To Be Deported To Colombia Once He Completes His Term.