CROATIAN POLICE BURN HUGE AMOUNT OF COCAINE ( Editorial: --> 2043 )

( Editorial: --> 2043 ) ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) - Croatian police publicly burnt 557.68 kg of 99% pure cocaine, with an estimated market value of 50 million German marks, in Zagreb on Wednesday. The drug, packed in 482 packets, had been seized in raids in the northern Adriatic port city of Rijeka. Interior Minister Ivan Penic said this was the largest amount of drugs burnt in Croatia in the last seven years. The drug, seized in cooperation with Interpol and police forces of other countries, was not intended for the Croatian but for the European market, he said. Penic announced that police would release information on persons who had attempted to smuggle such a huge amount of drugs through Rijeka, before the end of the year. (hina) vm jn 191627 MET nov 97