DATE=9/24/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BRAZIL-PERU DRUGS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254302
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=

Intro: Brazil and Peru plan to work closer together to 
halt the flow of illegal drugs across their common 
border. As VOA's Bill Rodgers reports from Rio de 
Janeiro, Brazil's anti-drug leader travels to Lima 
Monday to sign an anti-drugs accord.


Text: Brazil's national secretary for drug issues, 
Walter Maierovitch, says the two nations will now 
cooperate more closely by exchanging information and 
mounting joint operations to stop drug trafficking.  At 
a news conference in Brasilia Friday, Mr. Maierovitch 
said Peru is doing such a good job of combating the 
drug cartels that they are now moving their operations 
across the border into Brazil.

He said the western states of Acre and Amazonas have 
become transit routes for coca paste produced in Peru 
and Bolivia.  He said the coca paste is then smuggled 
into Colombia where it is refined into cocaine.  Mr. 
Maierovitch said Indians and gold prospectors are among 
those participating in the smuggling.

The Brazilian national secretary for drug issues named 
several Peruvian drug cartels believed to be involved 
in the trafficking -- including one called the Cartel 
of Tio Rios, named after its reputed chief, Antonio 
Rios.  He said another -- called Cacique Rivera -- is 
operating in the city of Tabatinga on the Amazon river, 
near where the borders of Brazil, Peru and Colombia 
intersect.

Mr. Maierovitch travels to the Peruvian capital Monday, 
where he and Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori will 
sign the joint cooperation agreement.  (Signed)  


NEB/WFR/PT



24-Sep-1999 14:53 PM LOC (24-Sep-1999 1853 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.