30522: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti makes biggest cocaine bust in over a decade (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, June 1 (Reuters) - Haiti has seized 925 pounds (420
kg) of cocaine in the impoverished country's biggest drug bust in more than
a decade, authorities said on Friday.
     Ten people, including four Haitian police officers and two Colombian
nationals, were arrested, said Claudy Gassant, a top Haitian prosecutor.
     The cocaine was discovered on Thursday near the town of Leogane, about
19 miles (30 km) south of the capital Port-au-Prince, Gassant said. It was
stashed in three vehicles, including one with official license plates.
     Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has long been
billed as an increasingly important trans-shipment point for South American
cocaine making its way into the United States and other markets.
     Police spokesman Frantz Lerebours said Thursday's cocaine haul was the
biggest in Haiti, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the
Dominican Republic, since 1996.