ALLIGATORS SNAPPED UP BY DRUG DEALERS

INSTEAD of pitbulls, alligators are becoming the new "guard dogs" of choice
for an increasing number of Americans, particularly members of drug gangs
anxious to protect their cash and narcotics.

In recent months, police in Massachusetts, where keeping large reptiles has
been illegal for more than 20 years, have encountered four alligators and
caymans used to protect property.

The most recent incident involved an alligator guarding drugs kept at the
home of a dealer in New Bedford. "It's the new status thing," said Victor
Mendes, a drug squad detective. "They've graduated from pitbulls to
alligators. They use the things to intimidate."

Caymans, in fact, are more useful for their bark than their bite: vets say
that, although the ferocious-looking members of the crocodile family can
reach up to six feet, they normally would not attack anyone unless
starving.

There is a big demand for the animals; one renowned for its "ferocious
leaping attacks" was stolen recently from a San Francisco zoo. In Lakewood,
Colorado, officers had to wrestle with a four-foot specimen while they were
evicting a tenant and, in Connecticut, a temporary animal shelter had to be
established to house seized reptiles.

For years, Americans have bought reptiles as pets, a trend accentuated when
Don Johnson kept Elvis the alligator as a companion on his boat in the
television crime series Miami Vice. Rumours abound of owners getting tired
of them when they grow too large and flushing them down the lavatory,
sparking wholly unsubstantiated stories in New York of monster alligators
residing in the sewers.

However, the trend to use exotic animals for protection is something new:
police in New York recently found a 12-ft snake in a cupboard guarding a
drug dealers' cocaine supply.

Sgt Robert Mercon, of Massachusetts environmental police department, said
there are obvious drawbacks to owning alligators and caymans. He said:
"They grow too quickly, they get too big and they get too vicious. And they
have very sharp teeth." The only upside, he reckons, is that "you don't
have to take them for walks and they don't get fleas."