■ United States
Eight nabbed in drug bust
Sixty-thousand bags of heroin worth a total of US$1 million have been seized and eight people have been arrested after they left a New York City house that was dedicated to drug packaging, police said. The bust in the Bronx borough was a result of an investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New York Police Department, state police and Westchester County law enforcers. Officers followed a driver on Monday night from a Hartsdale, New York, home to the Bronx, where he retrieved a plastic bag from the trunk of his car, the DEA said. The officers found two boxes containing about 60,000 individually packaged transparent baggies of heroin, weighing more than 18.14kg and arrested him, the agency said. About 45 minutes later, seven more people left the Hartsdale home in a minivan but were stopped two blocks away.
■ Argentina
Okay for Bush twins to stay
The US embassy rejected reports that it had told President George W. Bush's twin daughters to leave the country after a widely publicized purse-snatching incident. ABC News reported on its Web site on Monday that embassy officials had "strongly suggested" that Jenna and Barbara Bush cut short their visit to Buenos Aires due to security concerns. One of twins had her purse stolen in San Telmo last week despite the presence of Secret Service bodyguards. "We have seen a report from news sources stating that embassy officials strongly suggested that President Bush's daughters curtail their visit in Argentina," the US embassy said in a written statement. "This is false ... The embassy welcomes the visit and has provided close support and cooperation."
■ United States
Police find boxed caiman
New York City police found a 0.6m long caiman in a cardboard box on Tuesday, a shoelace firmly tied around its jaw. "It was pretty feisty," said Richard Gentles,director of administration for Animal Care & Control, a privately funded organization that took control of the animal. The reptile was found on Tuesday on a street in Brooklyn, and police did not know how it got there. "The caiman was cold, and we had to warm it up," Gentles said. Whoever left it in the box was concerned that nobody got hurt, he said. "The shoestring was double-knotted for safety, like a running shoe."
■ United States
Fish bites owner
A man has been taken to a hospital after tangling with a venomous fish in his home aquarium, police said. A one spot foxface rabbitfish bit the 19-year-old man on Tuesday night while he was working on his fish tank, a Nassau County Police officer said. The species has venomous spines on its back, according to fishbase.org, and is found in the western Pacific Ocean. Firefighters took the young man to a local hospital with a bite to his left index finger around 9:25pm. No information on his condition was available.
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