Follow The Money

"WE'VE PUT A SMART BOMB DOWN THE SMOKESTACK of the financial part of the Cali cartel's operations," said U.S. Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger. ! The Desert Storm terminology seemed at odds with the central metaphor of Operation Green Ice, the international drug bust that broke up the complex financial infrastructure of Colombia's premier cocaine cartel. But the effect was at least as impressive. Law-enforcement officials from the U.S. and seven other nations coordinated an assault of unprecedented depth and scope on Cali's network of money managers and distributors. At week's end, more than 165 people had been arrested, including seven of the cartel's most important money launderers, seizing $50.3 million in ill-gotten assets and uncovering mountains of cartel financial records.

For the first time, Italian, Spanish and British police joined their counterparts in the Drug Enforcement Administration in undercover storefront stings that penetrated the cartel's money-moving operations in Europe. In Rome, authorities arrested 30 people, including one member apiece from each of Italy's most legendary -- and lethal -- organized crime groups: the Mafia, Camorra and 'Ndrangheta. The arrests underscored the existence of a dangerous alliance between the Cali cartel, which controls 80% to 90% of the world cocaine production, and Italy's formidable organized crime groups. "Money is the life blood of a drug organization, and our efforts to dismantle the financial apparatus are as important as, if not more important than, drug seizures," said the Justice Department's Terwilliger. But the heavy demand for drugs -- both in the U.S. and Europe -- suggests there's plenty of life left in the cocaine business.