U.S. NABS COCAINE-LADEN COLOMBIAN AIR FORCE PLANE

BOGOTA, - A Colombian air force plane was seized at a Florida airport with
more than 1,600 pounds of cocaine, forcing a top-ranking officer to resign
in disgrace Tuesday over an incident that reinforced Colombia's
drug-tainted image abroad.

Government officials said President Andres Pastrana accepted the
resignation of Air Force chief Gen. Manuel Sandoval late Tuesday after
summoning him to the presidential palace to discuss the incident, the
second involving drug-smuggling and the air force since 1996.

"This has hurt our image, and not just the image of the air force,'' a
grim-faced Sandoval told reporters before entering the meeting.

U.S. Customs officials and drug agents discovered the cocaine Monday in the
cargo bay of a Colombian Air Force C-130 ''Hercules'' transport plane,
after it landed at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport outside Miami.

A customs spokesman said a total of 1,639 pounds of cocaine, with a
wholesale value in the United States of $12.7 million, were seized.

Sandoval said the plane had been searched by drug-sniffing dogs before it
took off from Bogota's Catam military air base.

The general had told a news conference early Tuesday that as air force
commander he assumed all responsibility and was willing to leave the post
to which he was promoted last August, two days after President Andres
Pastrana was sworn into office.

"I answer for all my men... In this case, as commander, I must take
responsibility,'' Sandoval said.

Spokesmen for the armed forces said Sandoval would be replaced, effective
Wednesday, by deputy Air Force chief Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco.

In Miami, the U.S. Customs Service said inspectors examined three pallets
of cargo and five empty pallets on board the aircraft, which was carrying a
crew of six and a family of five as passengers.

"Inspectors noticed that some of the large metal aircraft pallets had
unusual rivets and smelled of fresh glue,'' it said. A sniffer dog was
brought in and alerted them to the presence of drugs.

Customs inspectors drilled into the pallets and discovered a white powder
which field tested positive for cocaine. Th

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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski