US, Colombia arrest 30 in drug smuggling operation

NEW YORK, June 21 (Reuters) U S and Colombian authorities today arrested 30 suspected members of one of Colombia's top trafficking rings, a US official said.

The traffickers secreted heroin and cocaine in the soles of sandals, furniture, the lining of golf bags, and used human carriers who swallowed heroin pellets packed in condoms and boarded commercial airlines, the official said.

The arrests ''dismantled a drug trafficking organization that operated from the darkened jungles of Colombia to the bright lights of New York City,'' US Drug Enforcement Administration special agent John Gilbride told a news conference in New York.

Twenty-one people were arrested in Colombia, including nine suspected leaders of the Jaime Ocampo-Marin operation. U S authorities arrested two people in Florida and seven in New York, Gilbride said.

As part of the investigation, anti-drug agents seized more than 113 kg of heroin worth more than 25 million dollar in raids in the United States and Colombia between mid-2004 and December 2005, Gilbride said.

He described it as ''one of the largest amounts of heroin seized in a single drug investigation.'' Including previous arrests, 56 suppliers, wholesalers and retailers were now in custody. If convicted they face from 10 years to life in prison.

The investigation began with an anonymous tip that led to the seizure of more than 23 kg of heroin in Cali, Colombia, where the organization was based, Gilbride said.

Nine Colombian anti-narcotics police involved in the investigation were killed on May 22, giving authorities an incentive to crack the ring, Gilbride said.

Eight Colombian soldiers have been arrested in connection with the deaths. Colombian investigators say the soldiers were in the pay of right-wing paramilitary militias.

REUTERS VJ BST0240