Pubdate: Saturday,July 17,1999
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Section: News,page 29

FORMER SURINAME LEADER SENTENCED IN DRUG TRAFFICKING

A Dutch court sentenced the former ruler of Suriname to 16 years in prison
and a $2.3 million fine Friday for running a cocaine-smuggling ring in his
South American homeland.

But Dutch authorities will first have to catch the former leader, Desi
Bouterse, who remains at large and politically powerful in Suriname, a
former Dutch colony on the northeast coast of South America. He was
convicted in absentia.

Authorities charged that shipments worth an estimated $24 million were
taken out of Suriname from 1989 to 1997. Most of the drugs were brought to
the Netherlands, they said.

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