.c The Associated Press

SAN JUAN,Puerto Rico First the federal agents hit the local Delta
ticket counter and cargo area. Then, the arrests of Delta workers came
fast, from homes in Puerto Rico to Florida and Ohio.

The workers are accused of smuggling nearly $1 billion worth of cocaine for
the Cali cartel.

Nine people were indicted Wednesday along with three other Delta workers who
had not been located, said Pedro J. Janer, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement
Administration in San Juan.

The government is investigating another 20 people, some now working on the
U.S. mainland and no longer with Delta, Janer said.

``We cooperated with the DEA,'' Delta spokeswoman Kimberley King said from
the airline's headquarters in Atlanta. She declined to comment further.

The accused worked for the airline in San Juan as ramp, cargo or ticket
agents over three years in which they allegedly shipped 13,200 to 22,000
pounds of cocaine on Delta planes, Janer said.

Most of the drugs allegedly smuggled were flown to New York's John F. Kennedy
and La Guardia airports, Janer said.

The nine were arrested at Delta's ticket counter and cargo area at San Juan's
Luis Munoz Marin International Airport and at homes in San Juan, Orlando,
Florida and Cincinnati, he said.

The indictment was sealed, but Janer said all 12 people were charged with
conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute.

The charges stem from an investigation that began after 1,137 pounds of
cocaine were discovered in three wooden containers at Delta's cargo area at
San Juan airport in 1995.

The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that up to 40 percent of the
illegal drugs smuggled from Latin America to the United States come through
the U.S. Caribbean commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Earlier in San Juan, the coast guard commander said U.S. drug agents have
been cracking down on Caribbean traffickers.

``Today, after months of hard work ... we are seeing clear indications that
traffickers are moving their operations elsewhere away from Puerto Rico,''
Adm. Robert Kramek said at a news conference.

Kramek spoke after a meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney
Slater, who was in San Juan to learn the effects of the most recent U.S. drug
effort.

Still, Puerto Rico remains a ``major transshipment point,'' Janer
said.

He said most of the drugs are airdropped into Puerto Rico or onto nearby
islands and then brought by speedboat to Puerto Rico. The commonwealth is
used by drug smugglers because aircraft and ships bound for the mainland are
not subject to customs inspections.

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