MAFIA'S NEW ROLE

Editor -- Kudos for your two-part series (Jan. 7 and 8) on the Mafia's
reorganization and expansion.

One wonders why we (and other nations) expend huge resources attempting to
stop drug trafficking. The drug has the direct effect of assuring profits
for criminal enterprises while indirectly destroying the lives of bystanders.

We need to invest resources to stop the trafficking in human beings. It
could be cost-effective and moral. The drug war is neither.

Gerald M. Sutliff

Emeryville, CA