NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : 20 Indicted in Drug Smuggling Scheme

Twenty people, including four U.S. Customs Service workers and a former Cuban political prisoner, were indicted for smuggling nearly 40 tons of cocaine and marijuana into the country. The 15-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami charged the defendants, all of whom are in custody, with using law enforcement information provided by the customs employees to elude detection of their drug smuggling operation. “Employees who sell their badges and the trust of their fellow workers are really committing treason against the United States and should be punished as traitors to their country and the U.S. Customs Service,” said the agency’s assistant commissioner for internal affairs.