The Nation - News from Sept. 20, 1988

A Colombian-born woman, believed to be the first woman charged under a toughened federal drug kingpin law, was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of running a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring in New Jersey and New York. Eucaris Ceballos, 54, was also convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise to distribute narcotics and related charges. She faces a mandatory life sentence for her conviction under the federal drug kingpin law. Ceballos is said to be the first woman in the nation charged and convicted under a 1986 revision of the kingpin statute, which made a life sentence mandatory upon conviction, according to prosecutors.