DATE=1/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=MEXICO DRUGS (L)
NUMBER=2-257972
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  In spite of law enforcement efforts in both 
the United States and Mexico, the major drug 
trafficking organizations operating in Mexican 
territory continue to prosper.  As V-O-A's Greg Flakus 
reports from Mexico City, one expert on the problem 
sees little hope of any immediate change for the 
better in the fight against drugs.


TEXT:  One of the Mexican journalists who has followed 
the story of drug smuggling most closely is Jorge 
Fernandez Menendez, author of the book, "Narcotrafico 
y Poder" or "Narcotics trafficking and Power."  As the 
title of his book implies, he believes the drug-
smuggling gangsters have grown powerful because of the 
enormous amounts of money they obtain.

            /// FERNANDEZ ACT IN SPANISH FADE UNDER 
///

Speaking to V-O-A at his Mexico City office, he says 
that this week's celebrated merger of America Online 
and Time Warner provides a benchmark to understand the 
power of drug smuggling.  The corporate merger 
involves about 100-billion dollars - about the same 
amount Mr. Fernandez says is produced by drug 
smuggling each year.

This enormous flow of cash gives the drug cartels the 
power to corrupt officials on both sides of the 
border.  Mr. Fernandez rejects the notion put forth by 
some former U-S law enforcement agency chiefs that 
corruption in Mexico is the sole problem.  He notes 
that the Arellano-Felix brothers, who run the Tijuana 
cartel, have been able to walk about freely in San 
Diego (California) as well as Tijuana.  He says there 
is even more surprising information about the Valencia 
family, a smuggling group operating out of the central 
state of Michoacan.

            /// FERNANDEZ ACT in SPANISH FADE UNDER 
///

He says every member of the family obtained U-S 
citizenship.  They all have U-S passports that are 
legal, not falsified.  Mr. Fernandez says it was 
recently discovered that one member of the Valencia 
family had rented a house from the Mexican federal 
Attorney General's office, which had confiscated it 
from another drug trafficker.

Jorge Fernandez Menendez rejects the idea that the 
fight against drugs is hopeless.  He says there may be 
little reason to expect great success, but that the 
governments of both Mexico and the United States must 
continue to work separately and together against the 
illicit trade.  He also rejects the notion that the 
recent use of agents from the U-S Federal Bureau of 
Investigation in the investigation of clandestine 
graves near Ciudad Juarez represented a violation of 
Mexican sovereignty.  He says such cooperation is 
essential in the fight against drug smugglers.  
(Signed)

NEB/GF/TVM/JP




11-Jan-2000 17:45 PM EDT (11-Jan-2000 2245 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.