ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96071103.LAR
DATE:07/11/96
TITLE:11-07-96  MCCAFFREY SAYS U.S.-MEXICAN COOPERATION NEEDED TO STOP TRAFFICKING

TEXT:
(Tells Southwest Border Counter-Drug Conference)  (730)
By Michael Patten
USIA Special Correspondent


EL PASO, Texas -- Any policy to stop the flow of illegal drugs into
the United States must have the cooperation of the Mexican government,
says National Drug Control Policy Director Gen. Barry McCaffrey.

Through cooperative efforts, the United States seeks a "border that
embodies the rule of law, security, and international cooperation as a
bulwark against drug trafficking," McCaffrey told reporters July 10 at
the conclusion of the two-day Southwest Border Counter-Drug Conference
in El Paso.

McCaffrey, Attorney General Janet Reno, Treasury Secretary Robert
Rubin, Drug Enforcement Administrator (DEA) Thomas Constantine,
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Louis Freeh,
Immigration and Naturalization Commissioner Doris Meissner, and
representatives from governors of the border states of California,
Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas conferred at El Paso to hear what law
officers on the front lines say is needed to stop what has become a
$50,000 million a year illegal industry.

McCaffrey said Washington might be willing to assist Mexico with
equipment, training and shared intelligence gathering to help reduce
the amount of illegal drugs that cross into the United States through
Mexico. According to DEA, 70 percent of the illegal drugs coming to
the United States enter through Mexico.

"We will have to gradually build enhanced capabilities to support
Mexico with helicopters and training," he added.

The drug control policy director was scheduled to meet with
high-ranking Mexican officials in Ciudad Juarez July 11 to discuss the
conclusions reached at the conference.

The El Paso talks will be followed by a meeting in Washington July
15-16 with representatives from law agencies in the 10 largest cities
in the United States, and by another there July 30-31 between Mexican
and U.S. officials.

McCaffrey estimated it could take a year before a new drug policy is
produced based on these discussions. He added, however, that U.S. drug
interdiction efforts thus far already have made it harder for
traffickers to get their illegal wares into the country.

He said the United States has essentially closed the
Colombia-to-Florida corridor, forcing traffickers to find new and more
expensive routes to the United States. As a result, traffickers are
increasingly going through Mexico.

McCaffrey noted the "corrupting power" of drugs and said it will be
hard to get 100 percent cooperation from Mexican authorities. He
added, however, that Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo has called
illegal drugs the number one threat to Mexico's national security and
that U.S. law enforcement officials along the border feel the
cooperation from Mexican authorities has never been better.

"These are not naive people," McCaffrey said of the 300 law
enforcement officials gathered in El Paso. "We believe we can work in
a new partnership with Mexico. Both countries understand there can be
no progress unless there is cooperation."

In addition to direct assistance to Mexico to fight drug trafficking,
McCaffrey said the United States should also consider funding to help
Mexico with drug treatment and drug education programs.

McCaffrey inspected Eagle Pass, Texas, the day before the start of the
El Paso conference for a close-up look at the drug trafficking
problem. The remote pass is considered a particularly serious problem
for law enforcement, according to DEA, because of the aggressiveness
of traffickers trying to get their drugs across the Rio Grande River
into the United States.

A U.S. Border Patrol officer was killed in a shootout with suspected
smugglers near the pass last January. McCaffrey talked with local
ranchers near Eagle Pass who said that armed men they believe to be
drug traffickers cross their property frequently.

He said any new policy is also likely to include better coordination
among U.S. agencies responsible for stopping the flow. He cited a
one-year program between the DEA and FBI to link resources to fight
drugs, and a joint-program between the Immigration and Naturalization
Service and the Customs Service at the Otay Mesa border crossing in
Southern California as examples of well-coordinated joint efforts.

He also said a new policy would likely be heavy on research and
development as the government searches for high-tech ways to detect
drug trafficking at the border.
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