CUSTOMS AGENTS RAID MIAMI-DADE WAREHOUSE AND SEIZE DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

U.S. Customs officials seized more than $1 million in multi-colored
bongs, bongs shaped like flashlights and even Sponge Bob bongs from a
Miami-Dade County warehouse Monday, in one of the nation's largest
drug paraphernalia busts ever.

Officials suspect the warehouse supplied so-called head shops that
sell such paraphernalia all over the nation -- in direct violation of
federal law. The bust comes only months after a nationwide crackdown
on drug paraphernalia suppliers that has resulted in dozens of
arrests, including comedian Tommy Chong. Chong is now serving a
nine-month federal prison sentence for distributing bongs on the
Internet. Call them what you will -- tobacco water pipes, decorative
items, you name it -- bongs are used to smoke marijuana, said Anthony
Mangione, Immigration and Customs Enforcement resident agent in charge
for Fort Lauderdale.

"You could throw flowers in it and call it a vase. You could stick a
light bulb in it and call it a lamp," he said. "But it's still a bong."

They have become so pervasive, Mangione said, that gasoline stations,
kiosks at malls and convenience stores have become part of the drug
trade by selling bongs and glass pipes in all shapes and sizes.

Some of the items seized Monday at Da-Con Scientific in southwest
Miami-Dade included bongs shaped as guns, in which people could smoke
out of the barrel, and bongs disguised as lipstick tubes.

Several were decorated with cartoon characters such as The Cat in the
Hat. And one kind, disguised as a thermos, was placed inside a
Simpsons lunchbox

"They're clearly targeting kids," Mangione said. "I don't know too
many adults sitting down with a Cat in the Hat bong."

Other items seized included metal and glass smoking pipes, roach
clips, and other items used for smoking or repacking marijuana, hash
or crack cocaine.

No one was arrested Monday but the investigation is ongoing.

Paul Cecil, owner of Headquarters Tobacco & Gift Shop, said his
business is down by more than 50 percent since federal agents seized
about $40,000 in bongs and pipes from his Hialeah store last month.

"They can define anything as drug paraphernalia whether it is or it's
not," said Cecil, who noted that agents raided Da-Con only weeks after
they intercepted a UPS package the company had shipped to him and
wrote down the tracking number.

Paul Armentano, a policy analyst for the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that in a time when Americans are
worried about terrorism, the federal government's crackdown on drug
paraphernalia is a waste of money and effort.

"One really has to question the federal government's priorities," he
said.