4 TIED TO CASH, COCAINE, WEAPONS

U.S. agents arrested four people in a drugs-for-arms investigation, charging
them with plotting to deliver $25 million worth of weapons to a Colombian
terrorist group, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday.

It is the second such plot U.S. officials said they uncovered in recent
weeks. In September, four men were arrested in Hong Kong on charges of
attempting to sell drugs to finance the purchase of Stinger missiles for the
Al Qaeda terror network.

In the Colombia case, undercover agents secretly videotaped meetings at
which the defendants allegedly discussed exchanging drugs for weapons that
would be sent to the Colombian United Self Defense Forces.

U.S. authorities said the four suspects believed they were going to trade
$25 million in cash and cocaine for weapons.

If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to life in prison, Ashcroft
said.