Pubdate: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Contact: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ FAKE BROKERS SEIZE COCAINE, MILLIONS WITH GEORGIA STING TUCKER, Ga. -- Investigators posing as stock brokers seized $72 million worth of cocaine -- some of which was smuggled in containers of frozen fish - -- during an elaborate three-year sting operation. "Operation Juno" also netted more than $10 million in drug dealers' cash that federal undercover agents pretended to launder through the fake firm they set up in this Atlanta suburb, federal officials said yesterday. Five people suspected of being Colombian drug traffickers with links to the Cali drug cartel have been indicted by a federal grand jury on money laundering and drug trafficking charges. Another 47 people have been arrested in other parts of the nation. The Securities and Exchange Commission helped agents set up their phony company, "Airmark," by issuing actual licenses. Agents then rented space in a non-descript office complex, where the alleged smugglers occasionally met with undercover agents. It was the first time a stock brokerage was used in as a drug sting, said John Andrejko, agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Atlanta office. Agents did not make any stock trades, but did actually launder $16.2 million to keep up appearances. Agents took in the money during 59 pickups in public places such as the streets of Rome, Italy, and New York and mall parking lots in Chicago and Baltimore. The cash was handed to agents in duffel bags filled with $100,000 to $500,000, and then funneled through several accounts. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk