15 face judge in huge drug seizures

The Colombian nationals are charged with drug possession after federal authorities in Tampa report whopping cocaine hauls at sea.

By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 21, 2002

Last week, two U.S. Coast Guard choppers pursued a Colombian cigarette boat off Costa Rica. The boat sped off, dumping bales of cocaine in its wake.

The helicopters fired 100 shots off the bow of the boat, but it would not slow down. After the Coast Guard pumped 13 shots into the boat's powerful engines, it finally stopped. The six men on board were detained; authorities recovered 3.4 tons of cocaine from the water.

That bust on Feb. 12 -- and one the previous day in the waters off Peru that yielded a whopping 12.4 tons of cocaine -- is tied to an ongoing drug investigation coordinated out of Tampa.

Dubbed "Operation Panama Express," the investigation has netted more than 120 tons of cocaine and nabbed 178 people.

Fifteen of those alleged drug smugglers were in federal court Wednesday in Tampa. Six were connected with the Feb. 12 drug seizure. The rest were on board the boat that held the 12.4 tons of cocaine.

The cocaine seized in the two busts is estimated to be worth $216-million, based on a wholesale price of $15,000 a kilogram. Authorities say the street value would be worth 13 times that, or approximately $2.8-billion.

It marks the largest drug case ever prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

"We've had several large seizures, but over 12 tons is the largest," said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa. "Hopefully, it's stopping some of the cocaine coming to us. When you stop over 12 tons, it's got to have some impact."

None of the 15 defendants in court Wednesday could speak English. Three translators conveyed the judge's words to the men, who wore rumpled, white jail uniforms and shackles on their wrists and ankles.

"I'm. Your. Attorney," one lawyer slowly told one defendant. "I will come with an interpreter to visit you so we can discuss this further."

The men -- all are Colombian -- are used to judicial systems where judges, lawyers and defendants are sometimes murdered by the country's powerful drug cartels. It is unclear how the men fit into the larger hierarchy of the Colombian drug world; federal prosecutors will likely outline the extent of their involvement as their cases unfold.

The men followed the proceedings in the Tampa courtroom closely. Some listened through an interpreter, others with headsets.

In their brief exchanges with Judge Thomas Wilson, the Colombians said little, either speaking through the translators or stating, "Si, Senor," to his questions.

But a few times, they gave small, personal details that revealed something about their lives in Colombia.

One man told the judge that he is unable to write. He signed a form saying that he was indigent with a mark of a pen.

Another man, when asked whether his family had the money to pay for his lawyer, said, "No. They don't have any money. They're poor."

The 15 men are charged with two federal counts each of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute. Authorities said both boats were headed to Mexico.

Four other men who were arrested by Coast Guard officers on Feb. 3 off the coast of Guatemala also were brought to Tampa to face charges in connection with "Operation Panama Express."

About 2.5 tons of cocaine was seized from that boat.

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