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To: TobagoJack who wrote (34753)	6/5/2003 8:09:49 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

... and THEY say gold is not money :0) biz.yahoo.com Reuters U.S. agents throw wrench into golden screw scheme Thursday June 5, 3:26 pm ET NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities said on Thursday they threw the wrench into South American drug lords' newest money laundering scheme in which narcotics proceeds were exchanged for gold disguised as tools and screws and smuggled into Colombia. Federal prosecutors said that 11 people working in Manhattan's diamond district were arrested on Wednesday in a sting operation in which they accepted more than $1 million in cash represented as drug money in exchange for 220 pounds (100 kg) of gold. The smelted metal was molded and painted to look like common items that could get past customs inspectors. Informants had told authorities that when similar items arrived in Colombia, they were sold to gold refiners for Colombian pesos and delivered to narcotic traffickers. Among items recovered by federal authorities in New York was a working solid gold wrench, which was painted red and gray, worth about $10,000. Other items included pellets inside bottles of shampoo, light switch plates and even a fashionable belt, made up of thin gold bars, that had been painted silver. The 11 were charged with money laundering, the prosecutors said.