Pubdate: Fri, 04 Aug 2000
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Contact: Journal:  Constitution:  2000 Cox Interactive Media.
Forum: http://www.accessatlanta.com/community/forums/
Author: Bill Montgomery

HARTSFIELD MORE POPULAR AS ENTRY POINT FOR DRUGS

Recent seizures may indicate traffickers are using direct flights from Latin
America.

Narcotics crime lords may be trying out Atlanta's Hartsfield International
Airport as a new entry point for narcotics coming from Latin America to the
United States, according to a U.S. Customs official.

The seizure of $1 million worth of cocaine and heroin last week and the
arrest of five people passing through customs on flights from Guatemala and
Venezuela could indicate a trend, said Customs Special Agent Robert
Gattison.

"We could be seeing this because there are direct flights to Atlanta from
Central and South America now and increased numbers of passengers from that
part of the world," Gattison said. "They could be trying Atlanta over other
spots, perhaps because we've had significant success against drug
trafficking along the southwest border of the U.S."

Concealed in shampoo bottles, tins of baby powder, packages of tamales, even
balloons and condoms in the stomachs of couriers, more than $3.3 million
worth of smuggled cocaine and heroin has been intercepted at Hartsfield
since Oct. 1.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ben DeVane said confiscations from major
trafficking through Hartsfield during that period have included 85 kilos of
cocaine, 27 kilos of heroin, 30,000 dosage units or "hits" of the
hallucinogenic drug ecstasy and $205,000 in cash. Thirty-seven alleged
traffickers were arrested.

"There has definitely been an increase in drug seizures at Hartsfield, which
would indicate the use of Atlanta as a transhipment point to the Northeast,"
said DeVane, who covers a five-state area from Virginia and West Virginia to
Georgia. "It's a challenge to our inspectors because there is no limit to
the smugglers' ingenuity."

Heroin coming into the U.S. through Atlanta is on the increase from last
year, said spokeswoman Cherise Miles of customs headquarters in Washington.
Atlanta's airport ranks sixth in heroin seizures for major U.S.
international airports and fifth in the nation for cocaine seizures, she
said.

On July 6, Customs agents at Hartsfield seized more than 50 kilos of cocaine
packed in cardboard boxes containing tamales on a Delta Air Lines flight
from Guatemala City. Agents arrested Mauricio Linares, who had checked the
contraband baggage, and two associates who were headed for a connecting
flight to New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Two days later, customs agents found 3.35 kilograms --- more than six
pounds --- of heroin wrapped in plastic and hidden behind false walls in two
suitcases carried by a Venezuelan mother and daughter on a Delta flight from
Caracas.

Maria Rincon, 50, and her daughter, Maria Franco, 28, who were booked on a
connecting flight to LaGuardia, were arrested and charged with drug
trafficking.

Last May 10, Customs seized more than 25 pounds of heroin brought in on a
flight from Buenos Aires, also destined for New York, and arrested the
alleged trafficker, Argentine national Gustavo M. Abbate, 36. "This was by
far our record heroin seizure at Hartsfield, an extremely large amount of
heroin powder," DeVane said. The drugs were concealed in the lining of
jackets in the suspect's luggage.

"There has always been some drugs coming through Hartsfield, and you see
that any time you have an airport with foreign arrivals," DeVane said.

"Whether this is a clear or permanent change in strategy, only time will
tell," he added. "Drug trafficking routes are constantly changing, moving
from one area to another as the people who run the trade try something new."

AIRPORT DRUG SEIZURES The U.S. Customs Service, which recently has made
major drug seizures at Hartsfield International Airport, says Atlanta may be
turning into a major entry point for drug shipments from Latin America.

COCAINE SEIZURES
Oct.1 - June 30, 1998

Miami.............. 174
New York-JFK........ 90
Newark, N.J......... 21
Fort Lauderdale......18
Philadelphia........ 11
Atlanta..............10
Oct.1 - June 30, 1999
Miami.............. 141
New York-JFK........100
Fort Lauderdale......59
Newark, N.J......... 26
Philadelphia........ 15
Atlanta..............13
Oct.1 - June 30, 2000
Miami.............. 131
New York-JFK........ 89
Miami................89
Fort Lauderdale......30
Newark, N.J......... 25
Atlanta..............11
HEROIN SEIZURES

Oct.1 - June 30, 1998
New York-JFK........186
Miami.............. 185
Newark, N.J......... 39
San Juan............ 17
Houston..............12
Chicago..............11
Wash.-Dulles........ 10
Los Angeles.......... 8
Atlanta.............. 3
Oct.1 - June 30, 1999
New York-JFK........123
Miami.............. 107
Newark, N.J......... 22
Wash.-Dulles........ 10
San Juan..............9
Chicago.............. 6
Dallas................6
Los Angeles.......... 5
Atlanta.............. 3
Oct.1 - June 30, 2000
Miami.............. 130
New York-JFK........103
Newark, N.J......... 32
Houston..............13
San Juan..............8
Atlanta.............. 8

Source: U.S. Customs Service
/ CHUCK BLEVINS / Staff
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