DATE: Saturday, March 22, 1997              TAG: 9703220319

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   31 lines

DEA ARRESTS 3 FOUND WITH 19 KILOS OF COCAINE

Two men were ordered held without bond this week after federal agents arrested them with 19 kilos of powder cocaine, which could bring between $1 million and $2 million as crack on the street.

One of the men, Eduardo Madrano, 25, of New York, is allegedly a major East Coast distributor, Drug Enforcement Administration officials said, selling to dealers from Florida to New York.

Madrano, also known as Benny Hernandez, was the main target of an ongoing investigation that broke Monday. Two Newport News people were arrested with Monday: Dominique Carter, 22, and Shana Ross, 24.

Friday, Carter was held without bond. Ross was released on $15,000 bond. Madrano was ordered held without bond Wednesday.

On Monday, about 1:30 a.m., while 19 kilos of cocaine were being exchanged in the parking lot of a Comfort Inn on Jefferson Avenue, DEA agents moved in. Carter tried to take off, ramming his car into an unmarked DEA car. Carter and the other two were arrested.

Inside Carter's car, agents found the cocaine - worth about $475,000 wholesale - and $8,500 in cash in hidden compartments, federal authorities said. Ross was a passenger in the car.

Powder cocaine can be purchased for $13,000 to $18,000 in Miami and resold in Hampton Roads for $22,000 to $25,000. A kilo of powder cocaine will yield from 1.5 to 2.5 kilos of crack, essentially doubling profits on the street. KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL COCAINE ARREST DISTRIBUTION

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