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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| U.S. Soldiers Arrested for Colombian Cocaine Plot |
| 2005-04-01 |
| Five American soldiers have been arrested for trying to smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine into the United States on a U.S. military aircraft, the U.S. military said. The five unidentified Army personnel were detained on Tuesday and are being held in the United States for "allegedly trying to transport approximately 16 kilograms (35 lb) of cocaine," U.S. Southern Command said in a news release late on Thursday. "The Department of Defense and other federal agencies, in close cooperation with the Colombian government, are investigating these charges both in the U.S. and Colombia," Southern Command said. The cocaine could be sold in the United States for $300,000-$500,000. The U.S. Congress has authorized the presence of up to 800 U.S. troops in Colombia to train Colombian soldiers and provide support for the country's war on cocaine and Marxist rebels, as well as up to 600 civilian contractors. The United States has provided Colombia with more than $3 billion in mainly military aid since 2000. The arrests recalled a previous scandal to hit U.S. operations in Colombia. The wife of a U.S. Army officer who headed anti-drug operations in Colombia was sentenced to five years in prison in 2000 for trying to mail $700,000 worth of heroin to New York. Her husband admitted he knew she was laundering drug proceeds and was sentenced to five months, angering Colombian legal officials who complained this was too lenient. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #12 Hmm ... right about the price range where it gets cheaper to synthesize it. Time to watch Northern California chemists. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-04-01 9:27:17 PM |
| #11 I think I just hold on to gold dust. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-01 7:47:20 PM |
| #10 We need to hear from a Spemble, they're noted for their understanding of the metric system. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-04-01 7:43:56 PM |
| #9 It looks like the Euro is more expensive than I thought. How much is that in gold dust? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-01 6:06:13 PM |
| #8 ;-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-01 5:43:34 PM |
| #7 hehe dont bring hunter s thompson into the equation Franki ! |
| Posted by: MacNails 2005-04-01 5:43:00 PM |
| #6 well, my sis works for Johnny Law and she sez the price's gone up lately - pure is $40-50K/Kilo. For a while Meth was putting the crimp on Coke use and pricing, but Law's been smashing the big meth labs (smell gives em away - from miles away), so Mexican stuff is the big thing here in SD. Used to be bikers, tweakers, independents |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-01 5:41:07 PM |
| #5 In bulk, 20-30K per kilo. |
| Posted by: Jereper Ebbimble7449 2005-04-01 5:35:08 PM |
| #4 To give some kind of estimate for UK ( Although its shipped further than USA ) Street value in the UK is approx £60 a gram Which would equate to £9.6 million , BUT (a guess) it would cost importers £0.20 and then get 'distributed' where everyone takes their cut and waters down the 'quality' In the US its different/cheaper ( I expect ) . |
| Posted by: MacNails 2005-04-01 5:29:52 PM |
| #3 So what IS the street price, Frank? I'm not up on that sort of thing .... |
| Posted by: anon 2005-04-01 5:21:46 PM |
| #2 16 keys for $300K? Idiots |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-01 5:20:47 PM |
| #1 Not a Good Thing. Large amounts of money corrupt, but they're going to nail these guys, I hope ... |
| Posted by: too true 2005-04-01 5:02:10 PM |