Maybe this is Why they call it the "High C's"
next time..."Lets try plan B..."
Naked Drug-Runners Nabbed
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Talk about the gang that couldn't shoot
straight!
Seven naked drug-runners were nabbed off Colombia's coast
after they dumped millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the
ocean, doused themselves with gasoline, and then rammed a U.S.
Navy vessel with their speedboat, authorities said Thursday.
A statement from the Colombian Navy said the kamikaze-style
traffickers, who may have sampled a bit too much of their own
merchandise, were arrested Wednesday in one of the wackiest drug
busts in recent memory.
American sailors aboard the USS De Werth had spotted the men
and what they suspected to be their cocaine-laden boat while on
routine patrol in international waters off Colombia's main
Pacific coast port of Buenaventura, the statement said.
In a clumsy attempt at cover up as the De Werth closed in on
them, the smugglers dumped 40 packets, each containing 50 pounds
(22.5 kg) of cocaine, into the water, the navy statement said.
It said they then stripped naked and poured gasoline over
themselves, to wash off any traces of the white powder drug. And
in a crazed attempt to get rid of their boat, along with any
other tell-tale signs of their illicit cargo, the men then tried
to sink it by plowing into the De Werth, the statement said.
It said the cocaine was recovered and the unlucky smugglers,
one of whom was injured in the high seas collision, were all
taken into custody. They were identified as six Colombians and a
Nicaraguan.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
cocaine sells for between $10,500 and $36,000 per kilogram (2.2
pounds) wholesale in the United States.
That means that Wednesday's consignment from Colombia, by
far the world's leading supplier of cocaine, would have been
worth up to $32.5 million if it had made its way onto the U.S.
market. |
