Pubdate: Wed, 22 Nov 2000
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190
Fax: (408) 271-3792
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/

THOUSANDS ARRESTED, TONS OF DRUGS SEIZED IN SWEEPS

Smashing cocaine laboratories and burning marijuana fields, police in 32 
countries and territories have arrested thousands of suspects and seized 
tons of drugs in three weeks of U.S.-orchestrated raids, officials said 
Tuesday.

Police arrested 2,876 people and seized more than 20 tons of cocaine during 
the operation, said Michael Vigil, Caribbean director of the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration, which coordinated the raids.

The operation, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 19, was the third and biggest in a 
series of raids that began last year, officials said.

Police carried out more than 39,000 searches and raids, seized 29 tons of 
marijuana and 82,170 tablets of "ecstasy," dismantled 94 drug factories and 
confiscated 197 guns. They seized 100 tons of chemicals for drug-making and 
burned more than 9 square miles of fields of marijuana, heroin poppy and 
coca plants used for making cocaine. 
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