FOX SHOULD ADDRESS DRUG CASES DURING VISIT

Mexican President Vicente Fox plans to visit Juarez soon as part of his
vision to emphasize the importance of the border.

It will be his first visit to Juarez as president since before the July 7
election that catapulted Mexico's first opposition party candidate to the
highest office.

If Fox cares about border cities like Juarez, Tijuana and Matamoros, then
he will immediately do what he can to have arrested or hand over to U.S.
authorities the drug cartel leaders who have terrorized these communities
for the past seven years.

Since Fox's election, the Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney's office
has indicted three alleged leaders of the Juarez drug cartel in connection
with a dozen homicides, all suspected of taking place in Juarez.

The suspects include Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who was accused by U.S.
authorities in September of ordering the deaths of 10 people, including
four El Pasoans and a former Chihuahua state police commander and his two
sons. This month, Carrillo's nephews -- Ricardo and Alfredo Carrillo Cano
- -- were charged in the alleged extortion and hostage-taking involving Jose
L. Sahagun and Santiago Sahagun. Investigators believe the Sahaguns were
killed.

F.B.I. Doing The Work

El Paso's Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the cases that led
to these indictments.

To date, the number of suspects charged by Mexican authorities in any of
the hundreds of so-called narco executions in Juarez is zero, none,
ninguno.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge in El Paso Edmundo Guevara insists the FBI is
playing a supporting role only in such cases. He said the agency can assist
in Mexico-related crimes only at the request of Mexican authorities. He
also said these cases were based on evidence provided by the Mexican
authorities.

So why aren't the Mexicans indicting drug cartel leaders for the more
serious homicide cases which occurred on Mexican soil? Perhaps it's a
question Fox should ask during his visit to the border.

The last time we asked the Mexican federal attorney general's office about
this, the response was "we're looking into the possibility." That's what
Jose Larrieta, a top Mexican federal investigator, said before this month's
U.S. indictment against the Carrillo nephews.

Fox's Challange

So far, Mexicans have indicted alleged drug cartel leaders like the
Carrillos only on drug dealing charges. The Arrellano Felix brothers, who
police say control the flow of drugs through Tijuana-California, haven't
been touched either.

Privately, Juarez business leaders say their city is under siege by the
Carrillo Fuentes drug-trafficking organization. Police seem helpless, or
unwilling, to take on the powerful mafia credited with the city's soaring
crime rate and reputation for violence.

At a recent news conference involving the latest drug bust by U.S.
authorities, the FBI's Guevara said it was up to the new Fox administration
whether the bust would lead investigators to Carrillo Fuentes.

The entire border is waiting to see Fox's response to the problem.