Romney Holds Campaign Stop At Shop Owned By Convicted Cocaine Smuggler

The press is having a field day after learning that yesterday's Miami campaign stop by Mitt Romney was held at a business owned by a convicted Colombian cocaine smuggler.

In media reports in November 1997, Bermudez was identified as one of 12 people accused in a Colombian drug smuggling operation. The arrests followed a seven-month investigation led by the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Agents seized about 2,850 pounds of cocaine at three South Florida ports over several months. Agents first seized 430 pounds of cocaine at the Port of Palm Beach in July 1997 and then 117 pounds in late September at the Port of Miami. Those shipments were concealed in containers filled with fish imported from Trinidad, an island in the south Caribbean. The largest and final seizure came in late October at Port Everglades, where officials found 2,304 pounds of cocaine in a container of soap imported from Venezuela.

Bermudez says the Romney campaign vetted him thoroughly and knew about his criminal past. As a felon, he is unable to vote. (Tipped by JMG reader Rolf)