MORE ARRESTS MADE IN POT-SMUGGLING INVESTIGATION

Federal authorities have made seven more arrests in Seattle and New York
state in what they say was a conspiracy to import more than 12 tons of
marijuana from Southeast Asia.

Three other arrests, of a Pennsylvania man, a Florida man and a captain in
the Thai Navy, were made in late June in Cambodia.

A federal grand-jury indictment alleges the individuals involved conspired
to import three different loads of marijuana into the United States from
1997 to Aug. 20 of this year.

The case is linked to a marijuana-laden sailboat that burned and sank last
December off Neah Bay on the northwestern Washington coast. One of three
men arrested from that sailboat had previously been sentenced to prison for
trying to smuggle 300 Chinese immigrants into the country aboard the
freighter Golden Venture, which ran aground off New York in June 1993.

The most recent arrests came last week, U.S. Attorney Kate Pflaumer said in
a statement yesterday.

In a sting, five men were arrested at a Harbor Island warehouse in Seattle
as they prepared to take delivery of 6,300 pounds of marijuana from
government informers.

Arrested were Alex Reid, 51, of Bellingham; Anthony Torsone, 42, of
Montgomery, N.Y.; Gary Minore, 48, of Carmel, N.Y.; William Farrell, 42, of
Saugerties, N.Y.; and Patrick Cliett, 49, of Kingston, N.Y.

Arrested in New York state last week were Albert Soricelli, 45, of
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and Gregory Antonakos, 40, also of Poughkeepsie.

The warehouse sting was the last of three busts that began in December when
Coast Guard personnel picked up three men after spotting their 60-foot
sailboat, the Ok Tedi, traveling at night without running lights off Neah Bay.

Moments after the Coast Guard said it was going to board the vessel, the
crew scuttled it by setting it afire. Scores of marijuana bales were left
bobbing on the water. The Coast Guard said it recovered some 3,700 pounds
of marijuana, although Pflaumer alleged yesterday the sailboat actually
carried 12,000 pounds. The three crew members were rescued from the water
and arrested.

The trio await sentencing before U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly of
Seattle after entering guilty pleas to felony charges in the importation
conspiracy.

A 7,000-pound load of marijuana was intercepted in Cambodia on June 28.
Arrested then were Arthur Torsone, 46, of New Milford, Penn.; Michael
Smith, 39, of Key West, Fla.; and Prommateta Chinawat, a Thai Navy captain
from Bangkok.

The 10 defendants have been detained pending trial, scheduled Oct. 26
before Zilly.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski