The World : Brazil Cracks Drug Ring

Brazilian police rounded up key figures in a major drug ring and said they have dismantled a “Colombian cocaine Mafia.” Dozens of people were arrested in raids in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities, as well as in Amazon River basin areas close to the Colombian border. More than six pounds of cocaine and 30 suspects were seized in Sao Paulo alone. Narcotics agency officials said the ring was led by traffickers who fled Colombia in the wake of a 1983 crackdown there after the murder of Colombian Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla. The ring is believed to have had about 300 members in Brazil.