PERU DRUG FIGHT SCRUTINIZED

Filed at 12:33 p.m. ET, WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was brutal, but effective.
Peru's president ordered drug planes blown out of the sky to stop the
flights of semiprocessed cocaine from his country to Colombia in the early
1990s.

As a result, Peru's production of coca, the raw material for cocaine, has
dropped steadily. But following the fatal attack April 20 on an American
missionary plane in Peru, the policy is on hold. Some worry the drug
flights will resume; drug policy analysts are not so sure.

``I think a suspension of surveillance flights could occur for quite a long
period of time before you would see a major shift of cultivation back to
Peru,'' said Rensselaer Lee, a consultant on international drug issues.

Drug production has changed since the early 1990s, when Peru was the
world's leading producer of coca. Then, traffickers flew the coca into
Colombia, where Colombian traffickers turned it into cocaine and shipped
most of it to the United States.

In 1993, President Alberto Fujimori ordered the Peruvian military to stop
the drug flights, shooting them down if necessary. Since then, about 30
flights have been downed, many identified as drug planes by U.S.
surveillance flights.

As flights from Peru grew too risky, traffickers shifted coca production
into Colombia. Much of the coca was grown in areas controlled by leftist
guerrillas, who offered protection in exchange for money. The coca produced
in Colombia yielded more cocaine than the Peruvian variety.

Demand for Peruvian coca leaf fell and prices dropped, giving farmers more
incentive to participate in alternative crop programs. Peru coca
production, which reached 319,000 acres in 1992, fell to 84,500 acres by
last year, according to State Department figures.

U.S. officials largely credited the shoot-downs for the drop. But the
United States has stopped surveillance missions and Peru has stopped
interdictions following the shooting that killed American missionary
Veronica ``Roni'' Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter.

It is uncertain how long the flights will remain suspended. A U.S.
delegation traveled to Lima, the capital, and planned to meet Monday with
Peruvian officials to explore what went wrong.

U.S. lawmakers also have begun their own inquiries to see if procedures
need to be changed. At the same time, some have expressed concern that
while the anti-drug flights are on hold, traffickers will take advantage.

``If you backed away for too long, drug dealers are very innovative, very
versatile and they respond very quickly,'' said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio.

Ana Maria Salazar, a former top Pentagon anti-drug official, said a
long-term suspension ``would be sending a signal to the drug traffickers
that there is nothing to stop them from once again re-establishing the air
bridge between Peru and Colombia and Peru and other countries.''

But some drug policy analysts say that as long as Colombian traffickers can
get enough coca from their country, there is little incentive to import
more from Peru. U.S. officials estimate that less than 10 percent of
Colombian cocaine is made from Peruvian coca.

Peru farmers cannot quickly step up coca production while the surveillance
flights are grounded. Coca can take up to two years to grow.

``The Peruvian cocaleros (coca growers) cannot just turn on the production
and have cocaine back into the market next week. It doesn't work that
way,'' said Gabriel Marcella, who teaches strategy at the U.S. Army War
College in Carlisle, Pa.

Whether coca production rises in Peru may have to do with factors beyond
the suspension of surveillance flights.

Last year's $1.3 billion Colombian aid package seeks to sharply cut that
country's coca production. If it succeeds, that could raise demand for coca
in neighboring countries, including Peru. The State Department is proposing
a $882 million follow-up program aimed largely at helping Colombia's neighbors.

U.S. officials have said they expected Peru's coca production to rise
slightly this year, noting an increase in coca prices there and a drop in
coca eradication.

Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., said he is concerned that the suspension of drug
surveillance will make it easier to transport coca.

But Souder, whose House Government Reform subcommittee plans a hearing
Tuesday on the missionary plane downing, suggested the United States work
with other nations to find alternatives to shooting down planes.

He noted that U.S. anti-drug agencies are not permitted to shoot at
suspected drug flights even when they try to flee. U.S. agents, often
working with other governments, will try to pursue the flights until they
land. Local authorities then attempt to seize the plane, the drugs and the
traffickers.