NEWS OF THE WEIRD

In January, Hipolito Vega, 30, was arrested in Holyoke, Mass., and
charged on a previous warrant for driving without a license. He asked
to make his one phone call from the police station and spoke in
Spanish, believing no one at the station could understood him and that
he could tell his friend where to pick up a stash of cocaine he had
just hidden. However, Vega failed to notice Officer Manuel Rivera, who
heard Vega talking and alerted officers, who were waiting by the stash
when Vega's friend arrived.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

Airport police in Sao Paulo, Brazil, arrested Gerardo Gallo in January
after a search of his suitcase. They had found packages totaling about
50 pounds of cheap cheese and had become suspicious when they saw
Gallo's destination was Switzerland. Asked an inspector, ``Why would
anyone take so much third-rate Bolivian cheese to a country which is
famous for its top-quality cheese?'' Packaged inside the cheese was
about 22 pounds of cocaine.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

While Joe Camel-type ads lose favor in cigarette promotions in the
U.S., ads in other countries are stepping up their use of sensitive
sales images, according to an April San Francisco Examiner report. A
Marlboro ad in Cambodia features girls around 8 years of age; in
Poland, the backdrop of a Camel ad is a school; and in the
Philippines, the tobacco industry association used (along with packs
of Winston and Camel) the Virgin Mary on its 1998 promotional calendar.

Checked-by: (trikydik)