CUSTOMS SEIZES 2 TONS OF COCAINE IN LAREDO

U.S. Customs Service inspectors in Laredo, Texas, said Thursday that they
seized 2 tons of cocaine packed into a tanker truck, making it the agency's
biggest confiscation of the narcotic in at least three years.

The load, with a street value of $200 million, was hidden in two elaborate
compartments in the middle of a steel tank usually used to haul animal fat,
said Louis DeAnda, group supervisor for the Customs Service in Laredo.

The illicit white powder was packed in more than 1,600 plastic
shrink-wrapped bundles and weighed 4,350 pounds.

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)