COLOMBIA POLICE MAKE MAJOR COCAINE BUST

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Police said Saturday they seized seven metric tons of
cocaine worth $140 million in what was believed to be the biggest drug bust
in Colombia's Caribbean port of Cartagena.

Police, aided by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Mexican
officials, said they found the huge cache of pure cocaine in lead-lined
cargo containers in the main shipping terminal of the historic port city
late on Friday.

Earlier police suggested the shipment was bound for Europe but authorities
later confirmed it was headed for the United States via Mexico.

Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano, chief of the Colombian National Police, said the
drug haul was thought to be the biggest ever in Cartagena or any other
Colombian port.

``The shipment is historic,'' Serrano told reporters as DEA officials
looked on.

Cartagena was the site of another major drug bust in May when police seized
17 metric tons of marijuana bound for Italy.

The DEA estimates that Colombia supplies 80 percent of the world's cocaine
and says it is also becoming a major player in the heroin trade.

^REUTERS@

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski