Pubdate: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Author: Madeline Baro Diaz, Miami Bureau Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) FISH TALE LEADS TO DRUG BUST OFF PANAMA'S COAST The Story Seemed A Bit Fishy. When the USS Ford stopped a 40-foot boat in international waters north of Panama this month, the master of the boat allegedly said he had 300 pounds of fish on board. Then he changed his story, saying he had tossed all the fish, according to the Coast Guard, which had crew members aboard the Navy frigate. As the Navy and Coast Guard investigated, however, they couldn't even find fishing poles or line aboard. Removing a hidden compartment, they said they found the boat's true cargo, about a ton of cocaine, estimated to be worth about $66 million. On Thursday, federal officials announced the arrests of the four men aboard, Abel Pardo Salguedo, the ship's master, and crew members Alberto Cortes, Dionisio Velez Tarquino and Carlos Arturo Moreno. According to an affidavit filed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Salguedo claimed the boat, named Victoria, was Colombian, but the Navy and Coast Guard determined the boat had improper registration numbers and was stateless, giving them jurisdiction to board. The affidavit said the fishing boat also tried to ram the Navy vessel and the Victoria crew tried to sink their boat by pumping in sea water. The men were charged in a federal criminal complaint with possession and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom