MEXICO MUST BE A PARTNER

Law Enforcement Efforts Are Not Aggressive Enough

Once again, the true degree of Mexico's dedication to the international war
on drugs has come into question.

A report from the Mexican federal attorney general indicates that Vicente
Carrillo Fuentes, leader of the infamous Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel who
was in Juarez in 1998, was followed by federal agents -- but was not
apprehended.

This has caused raised eyebrows on the U.S. side of the border. El Paso
County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca, who's also a member of the West
Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area executive committee, couldn't
figure out why authorities didn't arrest him while they had the chance.
Apodaca said, "They should have arrested him. It was the perfect time to do
it. If it had happened here, we can assure you we would have arrested him."

The Mexicans' signal failure to take this chance to put out of action a
dangerous and effective drug lord leads to the inevitable question: Why?
Was it fear, or a lackadaisical attitude or, worse, possibly a result of
corruption?

And speaking of corruption, according to a Mexican arrest warrant, former
Chihuahua Gov. Francisco Barrio Terrazas received payments from Amado
Carrillo Fuentes, Vicente's brother and leader of the drug cartel until his
death. This was alleged by Tomas Colsa McGregor in a sworn statement in
1997. Colsa later was kidnapped, tortured and killed.

Barrio is under no federal charges and, in fact, is under consideration by
President-elect Vicente Fox for a possible Cabinet-level post that will
focus on cracking down on corruption. This matter must be cleared up
quickly.

If there is to be substantive progress in the war on drugs, Mexican
authorities must be full, willing and enthusiastic partners of the United
States. It's certainly not clear that such is the case.