LEGISLATOR SEEKS NEW WAYS TO PROD MEXICO ON DRUG WAR

SAN DIEGO--In a visit to the international border Tuesday, a key
congressional critic of Mexico's efforts to stem narcotics trafficking all
but ruled out trying to scratch Mexico from the Clinton administration's
list of nations helping in the war on drugs.

"Quite frankly, in this political climate, it might be very difficult," said
Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), head of a House subcommittee that oversees drug
policy. "We're going to look at other hammers to seek their cooperation
through trade, finance constraints--whatever pressure we can bring to bear
on Mexico."

Countries that fail the certification test can lose foreign aid and U.S.
endorsement for loans by international banks and face other sanctions.

Mica said election year politics dimmed the prospects for challenging the
government's certification last week of Mexico as an anti-drug partner. A
1986 law sponsored by Mica requires the president to assess the level of
help by countries that are major producers of or transit routes for
narcotics.

The administration's annual certification of Mexico has drawn fire from Mica
and other congressional critics who accuse the White House of coddling a key
trading partner. That congressional challenge petered out last year and it
was unclear whether opponents would mount a new campaign.

Mica made his comments during a pause in a subcommittee hearing in San Diego
that focused on U.S. federal and local efforts to combat narcotics
trafficking and drug use along the border.

The hearing, including testimony from federal authorities in San Diego and
from local police and school officials, came a little more than a week after
the ambush-style assassination in Tijuana of that city's municipal police
chief, Alfredo de la Torre, by unidentified gunmen. The slaying drew
intensified attention along both sides of the border to a crime epidemic in
Tijuana that is attributed largely to narcotics smuggling and the influence
of one of Mexico's most ruthless drug gangs.

Mica was joined by a subcommittee member, Mark E. Souder (R-Ind.), and Rep.
Brian Bilbray (R-San Diego) in citing the assassination as a symptom of the
lawlessness on the border and the challenges to binational remedies.

"The lack of a legal system and a corruption system [in Mexico] . . . is
overwhelming our ability to work together," Souder said in opening remarks.

Souder suggested that future certification could be made conditional on
Mexico allowing U.S. Coast Guard officers to board and inspect ships in
Mexican territorial waters.

The hearing focused mostly on efforts on the U.S. side to curb the smuggling
and sales of drugs in Southern California.

William T. Veal, who commands 2,150 U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego,
said a five-year buildup of agents in the once-porous zone contributed to a
24% reduction in felony arrests for marijuana and other drugs countywide
from 1994 to 1998. But Veal said marijuana seizures by his agents have
recently risen markedly. Marijuana seizures since October exceed the total
for the previous 12 months.

San Diego Police Sgt. Scott Lee, a member of a multi-agency drug team, said
most marijuana in San Diego County is smuggled from Mexico and often relayed
to other U.S. points by Jamaican and Puerto Rican trafficking groups. Lee
said methamphetamine from Mexican laboratories is typically sold in the
United States by dealers who do not belong to organized drug networks.