CARIBBEAN DRUG TRAFFIC UP 25%, U.S. SAYS

U.S. Law Enforcement Focusing On Terrorism

WASHINGTON - Illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean is up 25
percent, probably because traffickers see an opportunity with U.S.
law enforcement focused on terrorism, Drug Enforcement Administrator
Asa Hutchinson said yesterday.

Hutchinson could not say whether the rise would translate into more
drugs coming into the United States. But he said that like other law
enforcement agencies, DEA has been stretched thin since the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks.

"The traffickers see a window of opportunity in the Caribbean as a
result of assets that had to be marshaled in our port security and
our homeland security," Hutchinson told the House Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation subcommittee.

More than 100 DEA agents have been pressed into service as marshals
aboard airplanes and another 40 DEA intelligence analysts are working
closely with the FBI.

"We've got to have the funds to replenish any assets that are taken
away from the Caribbean," Hutchinson said.

Without more money, he said, it is doubtful the United States will
meet its 2002 goal of intercepting 18 percent of illegal narcotics
headed for U.S. shores. Last year, federal agents seized
approximately 11 percent of drugs.

Hutchinson's remarks about funding relate mainly to the Coast Guard,
the agency primarily responsible for drug enforcement along the
coast. The Coast Guard has estimated that as much as 75 percent of
its assets - personnel and boats - have been pulled away from drug
interdiction for anti-terrorist patrols.

The Coast Guard still is trying to come up with an estimate for
Congress on how much additional funding it will need to continue its
homeland security efforts in addition to its traditional work, which
includes immigration and fisheries enforcement.