FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1994                        (202) 616-1089
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                          MEDIA ADVISORY

   MIAMI GRAND JURY INDICTS SMUGGLERS OF OZONE-DEPLETING CFCs:
FIRST USE OF CLEAN AIR ACT TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL FREON IMPORTS

     In the first known case of its kind, a Miami grand jury has
indicted two individuals under the Clean Air Act for illegally
smuggling 100 tons of illegal ozone-depleting chemicals known as
"CFC-12" into the United States.  CFCs threaten to destroy the
earth's radiation-shielding ozone layer, and the United States and
other countries have agreed to decrease their use under the
Montreal protocols.

     As U.S. law tightens the availability and imposes substantial
excise taxes on these chemicals, used in automobile air
conditioners, a black market has developed to smuggle in untaxed
CFCs.

     The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney Kendall
Coffey.

     "CFCs pose a great threat to our planet's ozone that protects
us," said Coffey at a Miami press conference today.  "This
indictment shows we will not hesitate to enforce the law against
smugglers and others who threaten the earth we live on for a few
dollars."

     A release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Miami is
attached.


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