Smuggler's Blues
George W. Norris is facing 17 months in prison and two years probation after federal officials busted his smuggling ring. His accomplice in Peru, Manuel Arias Silva, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison. Were the two men bringing cocaine into the United States? Opium? No, they were caught illegally shipping lady slipper orchids to the U.S. The orchids are considered endangered and only those grown in nurseries can be legally shipped to the United States and then only with a government permit.