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Show World&Nation Fridav. Atoril 6. 2009 Page 14 Submarine: U.S. hopes law stops drug traffickers [I continued from page 2 the conveyance of choice for large loads, humping nearly a third of U.S.-bound cocaine northward through the Pacific, said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Nimmich, commander of the Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Fla. That's up from just 14 percent in 2007, according to the task force, which oversees interdiction south of the United States. Colombian Navy chief Adm. Guillermo Barrera told a counterterrorism conference in Bogota last week that 23 semi-submersibles capable of carrying between 4 and 10 metric tons each have been seized in the past three years. Though semi-submersibles aren't new to cocaine transport, a bigger, sleeker, more sophisticated variety that average about 60 feet (18 meters) in length began emerging three years ago. Earlier versions, christened "floating coffins," couldn't compete with fishing trawlers and speed boats known as "go-fasts" for maritime transport of drugs. But drug agents started policing trawlers better, AUTHORITIES STAND W A T C H at the scene of a shooting, Friday, April 3, in Binghamton. N.Y. A gunman entered an leading traffickers to new methods. immigration services center in downtown Binghamton on Friday, shot at least four people and took as many as 41 hostage, With just over a foot of above-water clearance and according to media reports. The condition of the victims wasn't immediately clear. A Binghamton police dispatcher who spoke V-shaped prows designed to leave minimal wakes, to The Associated Press wouldn't confirm a number of people shot or injured. AP photo semi-submersibles are nearly impossible for surface craft to detect visually or by radar outside a range of about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters.) That accounts for their relatively high success rate. They are propelled by 250 to 350 horsepower diesel engines and take about a week averaging 7 knots (8 mph) to reach Mexico's shores, Colombian and U.S. investigators said. Fuel tanks carry about 3,000 gallons of diesel, so no refueling is needed on the 2,000-mile journey from Zikuski said. BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) - Even if police officers had Colombia north. The SWAT team entered the building until 11:13 a.m., immediately entered the immigrant center where a gunWith cocaine in Mexico fetching $6,500 per kilo 43 minutes after the first call to police. man had just shot down 13 people, the victims' injuries - about triple the Colombian price, according to the "I'm not sure why they wouldn't have gone in there if were so severe that none would have survived, a county U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration - an average 7the shooting was already done," said Kent Mover, president prosecutor said Sunday. metric-ton load yields $30 million. of California-based World Protection Group, which offers The shooting at the American Civic Association Crews have no problem scuttling the vessels after protection services for corporate, commercial, industrial, stopped shortly after the first 911 calls came in at 10:30 off-loading their cargo, investigators say. The roughly entertainment, residential and retail clients. "What is hapa.m. Friday, but police didn't enter the building until $1 million spent on each craft is simply written off as pening all across the board in law enforcement is they've nearly 45 minutes later. the cost of doing business. switched the tactic. They're not relying on waiting until the Survivors reported huddling for hours in a basement, SWAT team gets there." not knowing whether they were still in danger after the Mover said many law-enforcement agencies conduct gunman, 41-year-old Jiverly Wong, killed 13 people. rapid-response training where the uniformed patrol offiMedical examiners who conducted autopsies reported cers are taught that "once they have sufficient backup, that that the victims' injuries were so severe they would not they go in prior to the SWAT team getting there." have survived, Broome County District Attorney Gerald F. Mollen said. Zikuski contrasted the scene with the 1999 Columbine "We definitively can say nobody was shot after police High School shooting in Colorado, in which 15 people arrival, and nobody who had been shot could have been died, including the two teenage gunmen. There, he said, it saved even if the police had walked in the door within the would have been better for police to enter the building as first minute," Mollen said. quickly as possible since it was obvious the gunmen were still alive and shooting. The prosecutor's comments came at a news conference Sunday, an hour before officials released a list of names "At Columbine, there were numerous shots ringing and home countries of the victims. out and law enforcement stood by," he said. "I was, quite Four Chinese were among those killed, and a Chinese frankly, horrified when •Iknew^hat"-^ •• ••-•^••~: student was also shot in the arm and leg but survived, offiPressed on why police didn't go into the building, cials said. The other victims came from Haiti, Pakistan, the Zikuski said information they were gettingfromthe Philippines, Iraq, Brazil, Vietnam and the United States. receptionist - specifically whether Wong was still alive - was uncertain enough to warrant caution. And unlike The first 911 calls came in at 10:30 a.m., police Chief Columbine, police in Binghamton could be more deliberJoseph Zikuski said at a news conference. The callers spoke ate because the gunman had stopped firing by the time broken English, and it took dispatchers 2 minutes to sort they arrived. out what was happening, he said. Patrol officers arrived at 10:33 a.m., five minutes before "He was dead. We didn't know it," Zikuski said. "If a wounded receptionist called police to report a gunman there's a bunch of cops laying on the floor shot trying to in the building, Zikuski said. Police had earlier said it was rescue somebody else, it's not going to help anybody. All that call that brought them to the immigration center. I can tell you is that we did what was expected and was For more Information, contact • Victor W. Harris, PhD at: victor.harriseusu.edu, (435} 797-7479 the right thing to do under the circumstances. We did the When police arrived at the scene, the gunfire had Online at: familylifestudies.usu.edu right thing." stopped, so they believed there was no "active gunman" in the center and decided to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, Binghamton officials defend response to massacre SNOW SO years + C O L L E G E Saturday, AprU 25, 2009 Tor atfSnow Coffyefltumm 1959 andearfieri 400 Visrting and appetizers 6:00 Dinner :J Music and Dancing Big &=nd das3i:s provided by trs Snow College Muse Department and same cr yajrewn Badger classmates' $15,00 per plate/$25 00 couple (You may pay by check cf credit card) Call Hit Alumni Office today for tkkats: 435-283-7062 orward to seeing you! , edu/alumni It Costs More To Eat Raman Noodles That's How We Roll. A pain in the ash: Active volcano irritates Alaskans ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Mount Redoubt is getting under the skin of Alaska, and it's not just the irritation caused by volcanic ash. For residents of Alaska's largest city, living near an active volcano means sometimes wearing air-filtration masks and stretching panty hose over the air intake of cars and trucks. The volcano also brings daily uncertainty about whether it will blow and, if it does, where the ash will go. "I would like it to have a big boom and get it over with," said Brad Sandison, a retired truck driver and avid cyclist who carries a face mask and goggles whenever he rides just in case the volcano starts spewing ash. The mountain 100 miles southwest of Anchorage tends to erupt every decade or so and belch ash for months. Geologists have recorded at least 19 eruptions since March 22, including one on Saturday. So far, Mount Redoubt's almost daily ash clouds have canceled hundreds of airline flights, reduced the number of shipments flowing through a huge FedEx cargo facility and cut shipments of fresh Alaskan seafood. People with breathing problems also face health risks. Respiratory patients should avoid being outdoors when the ash is falling, said Dr. Teresa Neeno of the Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center of Alaska. Those who must be outside should wear a mask. Lin Walters of Nikiski makes sure her 81-year-old mother, who has severe asthma, is wearing a face mask whenever the volcano erupts. "When the volcano blows, she has to put on her mask because we don't know which way the ash is falling," Walters said. "She has a whole box of them sitting beside her recliner." The last time Redoubt erupted was late 1989 and early 1990. Eruptions went on for four months. 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