NATION : 5 Tons of Cocaine Found in N.Y.

NEW YORK — Federal agents and police today finished digging more than 5 tons of cocaine with a street value of about $851 million from barrels of caustic lye and planned to burn the lot.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Mark Hannan said the massive stash of cocaine weighed 10,648 pounds and was the largest seizure in New York history and the third largest in the United States.

The cocaine was found a week ago when Customs and DEA agents armed with search warrants raided a warehouse in Queens. Agents found 2.2-pound bricks of cocaine wrapped in plastic and packed into hundreds of 10-gallon barrels, each topped off with caustic lye.

Authorities said that the barrels had been shipped from Latin America by Arenal Inc. and that federal agents were looking for five suspects they believe are linked to the Cali cartel in Colombia.