European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a the stars and stripes monday May 7,1990rival shrimpers Exchange fire off la. Coast Cocodrie la. Apr competing fishing Crews fired automatic weapons and rammed each others boats saturday in the Gulf of Mexico amid tension Between longtime area fishermen and vietnamese newcomers. No injuries were reported said Petty officer Matt Mcgovern in new Orleans. The shooting stopped when coast guard helicopters and boats arrived Mcgovern said. A some vietnamese and americans were shrimping together out there. They got a Little too crowded tempers flared and somebody started shooting a said Donald Lirette of Dulac president of the Terrebonne fishermen s organization. Five vietnamese shrimpers were taken into custody and a number of automatic weapons were confiscated said Petty officer John Litzenburger. A a Nesses told the coast guard one shrimp boat got its Anchor caught in another a trawling nets. A a that a when the firefight started a Litzenberger said. W Nesses reported that the vietnamese shrimpers tired on a boat crewed by longtime Louisiana fishermen. Who then shot Back Quot Litzenburger said. The coast guard picked up three vietnamese shrimpers after they jumped into a passing boat and were taken to a nearby Oil platform Litzenberger said. Two other crewmen were later taken into custody he said. Authorities had reported one boat sinking because of the ramming but Litzenberger said it was out of danger. There has been animosity in Louisiana because of the arrival of vietnamese shrimp fishing Crews but there has been Little violence Lirette said. A it s a dog cat dog situation when things Are like they Are now. Everybody a starving a Lirette said. Quot the american shrimpers can communicate with each other but they can t communicate with the vietnamese three coast guard boats a . Customs service vessel and a helicopter were sent to the scene about five Miles offshore. Litzenburger said authorities were to keep watch on the shrimp boats overnight and Board the vessels at Daylight sunday. Until then fishermen were to remain aboard their vessels he said. A we just have to determine what happened in the first place a Litzenberger said. Stateside movie Broadway actress Hope Williams dead at 92 new York apr actress Hope Williams who starred in movie and Broadway shows in the 1920s and �?T30s, has died of cardiac arrest at her Manhattan Home. She was 92. Wiliams was bom into privilege As the daughter of a prominent Manhattan lawyer. Her career took Oft after her work in the 1927 Philip Barry comedy a Paris  she went on to Star in other Barry comedies a Holiday a a strike me Pink and a the  her co stars included Noel Coward and Jimmy Durante. Williams retired from acting after appearing in the 1939 Broadway revival of Oscar Wilde so the importance of being  in gang crimes reported in area of . Los Angeles apr reports of gang crimes have fallen by More than a third in the Section that accounted for half the City a gang violence a year ago and police crackdowns and neighbourhood involvement Are being credited. During the first three months of this year gang crime reported to the police departments South Bureau fell by 36 percent compared with the same period last year police statistics show. Gang related murders dropped 45 percent. In contrast gang crimes jumped 34 percent in the Central Bureau and 18 percent in the West Bureau for the three month period. Members of a White supremacist group huddle together after some of them were hit by bottles thrown demonstrators injured at them saturday in san Francisco. The attack by anti fascist protesters broke up the demonstration. Suspicious accounts targeted in Florida drug crackdown Miami apr Federal drug agents served warrants to confiscate $17.6 million in South Florida financial institutions As a nationwide crackdown into laundering of drug Money focuses on suspicious accounts a spokesman said saturday. Federal officials froze $400 million in More than 750 accounts nationally three weeks ago As part of the Long running operation Polar Cap. Investigators have been working to pin Down the origin of the funds said drug enforcement administration spokesman John Fernandes. The seizure warrants served Friday in South Florida covering $ 17.6 million were for accounts in which investigators have concluded that there was a probable cause to believe the Money was drug proceeds Fernandes said saturday. The warrants were served on Bank officers for 72 accounts at 20 South Florida Banks a a Legal step in the process of transferring the suspected drug Cartel Money to Federal coffers. In All accounts had been Frozen in 78 Miami Banks. The government also could prosecute Bankers and the account holders after tracing the Money Fernandes said. Meanwhile the account holders Are preparing to fight the freezing or loss of funds with some arguing they were involved in a flight capital a sending of assets from troubled foreign countries to the United states a and not Money laundering. A a it a the Only Way people in Colombia can have dollars in the United states to avoid inflation and other problems with the colombian Economy a said Fred Schwartz an attorney for a colombian industrialist with $600,000 in Frozen accounts. Schwartz and other attorneys say their clients bought dollars in latin America on the Black Market a a huge pot of Money swelled by the cocaine Trade a without knowing the Cash was drug tainted. The Money then was transferred to . Accounts often in violation of currency Laws abroad As a Cushion against the vagaries of latin american economics and politics. Javier Murcio a flight capital expert with Dri Mcgraw Hill a Lexington mass., consulting firm said the Dea seizures a must induce some nervousness on the part of these  Atlanta Bank reportedly funnelled billions to Iraq Chicago apr a Federal grand jury is investigating whether a . Branch of an italian Bank secretly Lent billions of dollars to Iraq for president Saddam Hussein s Effort to make his country the dominant Middle East Power a newspaper reported. The Chicago Tribune said in sunday editions that the grand jury in Atlanta has been looking into possible violations of Bank regulations by Banco Nazionale Lavoro a Rome Bank controlled by the italian government. The grand jury also has been investigating whether an official of the Bank a Atlanta Branch fed Iraq More than $2 billion in Loans without authorization from his superiors in Rome the newspaper reported. The Justice department has cast a Blanket of National Security Over the nine month inquiry keeping some Bank regulators and fraud investigators in the dark on certain elements the newspaper said. The Tribune said its Story was based on court documents and interviews with Law enforcement officials and others. The grand jury is expected to conclude its work soon the newspaper said. Western nations alarmed at a buildup of Long Range missiles m the Middle East have imposed restrictions on the Sale of sensitive equipment to third world counties but Iraq is exploiting loopholes to develop a formidable missile Arsenal. Federal investigators Are trying to Trace whether some or All of any Banco Nazionale Loans went to Iraq s recent military buildup