In an arrest that has left neighbors stunned, 56-year old Gail Mathews, described as a "hibiscus-tending grandmotherly figure", and a crew of five others were apprehended in a sophisticated cocaine smuggling operation according to The Miami Herald. Federal Agents alleged that Mathews and a five-person crew sailed the 60-foot yacht Chazmania to rendezvous with another boat off the Yucatan Peninsula. There they picked up nearly half a ton of Colombian cocaine. The crew then sailed back to Florida docking at a $300,000 waterfront house it had rented. They donned all-black outfits and hauled 19 cocaine-filled duffel bags to the house, using night-vision binoculars as they unloaded. A German shepherd stood guard.

Federal agents rushed in and arrested Mathews and five others. "We have a lot of big seizures here," said DEA Special Agent Brent Eaton. "But in almost every instance, the drugs are controlled [in South Florida] by Colombians." In Mathews' organization, Colombians merely played a supporting role, federal agents said. The raid was the culmination of a six-month investigation into Mathews' elaborate smuggling ring, the DEA said. While the size of Tuesday's bust was not extraordinary, the fact that an American was allegedly running the show raised eyebrows. "She's a little old lady,'' said stunned neighbor Tony Burrell. ``If she's a kingpin, then the Colombians are in trouble."