U.S. COAST GUARD MAKES HIGH SEAS DRUG HAUL

BOGOTA (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard seized more than half a ton of
cocaine Wednesday after intercepting a speedboat off Colombia's Caribbean
resort island of San Andres, authorities said Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Colombian Navy said the occupants of the speedboat,
four men, attempted to dump the cocaine overboard when they spotted the
Coast Guard cutter steaming toward them on the high seas.

But the drug shipment, totaling more than 1,100 pounds , was nabbed along
with the four would-be smugglers after a high-speed chase.

The Navy spokesman said the speedboat's crew members, all of them
Colombian, were turned over to the Colombian authorities along with the
drug haul.

U.S. drug seizures in Colombia's territorial waters were made possible
under a bilateral maritime interdiction treaty the two countries signed
last year.

Checked-by: Richard Lake