DRUGS OFTEN RIDE THE RAILS

Train Traffic Contributes To North Texas' Status As 'Major' Distribution Hub

North Texas has become a major distribution hub for illegal drugs, thanks
to the area's central geographic location and easy access provided by
freeways, airports and railroads, a new federal report says.

The drug "threat assessment report" by the North Texas High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, found that one new concern to some federal and
local law enforcement agencies is the many freight and passenger railways
that connect Mexico with Texas.

Law enforcement authorities say the trains run through the Dallas-Fort
Worth area virtually unchecked. The report also identified Amtrak's plans
for a Dallas-to-New York route next year as an example of the opportunity
for drug traffickers.

"It's a challenge that I think we're probably not being successful with,
given the magnitude of the problem," said John Brown, Dallas special agent
in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Drug dealers are very
dynamic, and they use any means they can. So if Amtrak has a route from a
good transportation hub like Dallas to anyplace in the Northeast, they'll
jump on the opportunity."

Officials with Amtrak and other railroads said they were surprised at the
report's finding. They said that trains are an inconvenient method of
smuggling and that railroad police control the situation.

HIDTA is one of 33 multiagency drug task forces that Congress set up across
the country to fight the drug war. The report was produced for internal use
by its 38 member law enforcement agencies.

The report is the second since the North Texas HIDTA was funded by Congress
in 1999 and, building on last year's survey, is considered the most
comprehensive statement yet about the region's drug problems. In addition
to identifying the threat of smuggling along the rails, the report's
findings include:

*The drug that most threatens the public welfare in North Texas is
methamphetamine, an easily manufactured synthetic stimulant similar to
cocaine but cheaper. More than half of the 60 North Texas agencies that
contributed to HIDTA's study noted increases in methamphetamine production
in home laboratories or consumer use. Many rural police departments
reported their first discoveries of home labs that produce the drug for
local consumption. Demand for the drug rose dramatically in 2000, reflected
by street prices and falling purity.

*Tractor-trailer rigs and personal motor vehicles remained the primary
transportation used by drug traffickers. They moved increased quantities of
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico through Dallas
to supply the Midwest and Northeast along interstates 30, 35, 45 and 20.

*Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field, with increasing
freight and passenger services, also served smugglers in 2000. Dealers also
exploited North Texas' booming population and shifting ethnic demographics
by selling drugs locally.

*The illegal drug "khat" made a significant appearance in the Dallas-Fort
Worth area during 2000. The drug is a leafy vegetable-type stimulant chewed
for centuries by people who live in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula, especially Ethiopians and Somalis. More than 600 pounds of the
leaf was seized in Dallas over a 33-day period early this year after being
shipped to D/FW Airport from Africa in mislabeled boxes.

*Cocaine in all of its forms and Mexican black tar heroin remained
plentiful in North Texas, but use of the drugs did not increase
significantly in 2000, according to DEA case initiations, seizures and
other indicators. Johnson and Tarrant counties reported some increases in
treatment admissions.

*Mexican drug cartels, with help from Colombian organizations, dominated
the local drug trade, controlling the local distribution of marijuana,
cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. In all, 57 Mexican organizations were
identified as having a presence in the area or smuggling through it. Gangs
from Eastern Europe and Asia did a robust business in "club drugs," such as
ecstasy.

Dave Israelson, director of the North Texas HIDTA, said rail smuggling is
much less common than smuggling by trailer trucks or personal motor
vehicles. Texas has the nation's highest volume of truck traffic, with
about 3,500 tractor-trailers now crossing the border daily from Laredo.

Mr. Israelson and other federal law enforcement officials in North Texas
say the report underscores the need for strategies that can be effective
with available but limited resources. The North Texas HIDTA strategies are
confidential, Mr. Israelson said.

The report, in addressing the railroad smuggling threat, identified
Amtrak's plans to create a Dallas-to-New York route next year as an example
of expanding opportunity for drug traffickers and diminishing law
enforcement ability to address the problem. Authorities seized more than
7.5 kilos of cocaine from Amtrak passengers last year, as well as 150 kilos
of marijuana.

The Mexican government also is privatizing its railroads and rail trade
through Texas under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, federal
officials in Dallas said.

Marijuana shipments have traditionally been found on the rails, but the
Mexican military last year began finding large amounts of cocaine,
including 2,300 pounds in April and May, the report said.

Wayne Frandsen, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Customs Service in
Dallas, said his agency has neither the resources nor the technology to
police increasing freight and passenger train traffic from Mexico. The
trains carry goods from as far away as South and Central America.

The agency's border posts recently acquired some X-ray technology capable
of monitoring some freight, but experts say the few machines can make only
a token impact.

A representative of Texas Mexican Railways said the machines installed in
April 2000 work well and supplement aggressive physical checks by railroad
police on both sides of the border.

Kevin Johnson, a spokesman for Amtrak, said demand for the Northeast route
"overwhelms the sensible consideration of increased opportunities for
illegal drug activity.

"With any service expansion, Amtrak will continue to be vigilant and
diligent in its efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs at our facilities
or our trains," he said.

"It's coming as kind of a shock to me," said Bill Galligan, a spokesman for
Kansas City Southern Railroad, which has partnerships with Mexican
railroads. "I know of absolutely no problems with the trains being closely
scrutinized in terms of U.S. Customs in our experience with Mexico trade.
Trains are not the best way to move drugs because they're confined. There's
no way the smuggler can control what's going on."