Pubdate: 7 Nov 1998 Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) Contact: http://www.phillynews.com/ Copyright: 1998 ASSOCIATED PRESS HALF-TON OF COCAINE SEIZED IN PA. TOWN LEBANON, Pa. -- Federal agents seized a half-ton of cocaine that was welded inside a bolt-cutting machine and shipped from Venezuela to a warehouse in this south-central Pennsylvania town. David Barasch, U.S. attorney for Pennsylvania's Middle District, said yesterday that two men had been arrested: Sergio Germade, 31, of Huntington, Conn., and Juan Duina, 54, of Buenos Aries, Argentina. "This cocaine seizure represents the largest drug seizure anyone can recall in this area," Barasch said. If convicted of possession with in tent to distribute, the two men face maximum penalties of life imprisonment and fines totaling $4 million. Barasch says the street value of the 450 kilograms of cocaine is in the tens of millions of dollars. He said authorities learned about the shipment when it reached the Port of Baltimore several days ago. It was then hauled by truck to an empty warehouse in Lebanon. The cocaine was packed in tight bundles wrapped in green plastic and brown tape, then welded into the machine. For three days, agents with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Customs Service and local police staked out the warehouse, once belonging to the now-abandoned Bethlehem Steel plant, before moving in and making the arrests Wednesday. Nearly a dozen police cars and as many as 30 agents, detectives and police officers swarmed a vehicle that was backed up against the building and arrested Germade and Duina. Authorities would not disclose who was renting the warehouse from the Lincoln Fifth Corp., which owns the property. "There's been a lot of people sitting around watching lately," said Jim Gilley, a worker at a nearby manufacturing plant. Authorities said they did not believe that the cocaine was intended for distribution in the mid-state area. Barasch said the investigation was continuing. Federal authorities in Caracas, Venezuela, where the shipment originated, are also involved in the investigation. South-central Pennsylvania, where several major interstate highways intersect, is a major distribution point for trucks hauling goods in the mid-Atlantic region. Barasch said the area attracts drug dealers moving large shipments. "If anyone is thinking of turning south-central Pennsylvania into some kind of transportation hub for drugs, they better think again," he said. - --- Checked-by: Rich O'Grady