GUATEMALA EMERGES AS A KEY DRUG ROUTE

GUATEMALA CITY - In the three years since President Alfonso Portillo
assumed office, Guatemala has emerged as one of the principal corridors in
the hemisphere for U.S.-destined drugs - a new battleground in the war on
drugs where the traffickers are winning.

Where once there was little organized criminal activity, intelligence
sources say, Guatemala now has five key "mafias" that have joined forces
with Colombian and Mexican cartels to move drugs - primarily cocaine - by
land, air and sea.

"Guatemala is one of the largest cocaine transit countries in the world,"
Paul Simons, acting assistant secretary of state for international
narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said this week. "Perhaps as much as
200 tons of cocaine passes through Guatemala every year en route to the
U.S. market."

That makes up as much as half the estimated amount of drugs that crosses
through the Central American region and accounts for about 40 percent of
all direct entries to the United States.

"This large scale could not go unhindered were it not for just collusion,
but also involvement in drug trafficking," said a State Department official
who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Already under scrutiny because of the Bush administration's recent
assessment that Guatemala is not an adequate partner in the antidrug
effort, the country was slammed again in the State Department's annual
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. The report was released
last Saturday.

The report, based on activity in 2002, paints a dark picture of Guatemala's
record under Portillo's leadership. Among other things, it shows that drug
seizures dropped by about half, compared to the previous year. It also
notes that many of the seizures occurred after scathing testimony before
Congress by U.S. officials in Washington.

Simons testified last fall that the drugs pass through Guatemala "with
almost complete impunity."

Rogelio Guevara, chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement
Administration, told Congress: "After nearly 36 years of violent guerrilla
and civil war, Guatemala has only recently attempted to move from military
to judicial rule. Criminals with political connections function within the
various departments of the government, including the courts and national
police."

The Guatemalan security forces have been rocked by a series of high-profile
scandals. Among them:

In January 2002, drug agents took over the village of Chocon as part of a
violent drug raid that ended with the deaths of two people. Sixteen agents
were arrested and are now on trial on charges of illegal search and
seizures and extrajudicial execution. While the case is based on human
rights abuses, authorities allege the raid was really a shakedown in an
attempt to steal drugs moving through the village. The agents face a
maximum of 50 years in jail if convicted.

In July, officials discovered that about 1,600 kilos of cocaine were
missing from a storage room at a narcotics unit headquarters in the
capital. Eighteen drug agents were arrested in that case and are awaiting
trial. They face up to 15 years in prison.

Meanwhile, a series of corruption scandals led to the disbanding of the
nation's antidrug task force. About three-quarters of the narcotics unit
was fired and a new force was created. Officials say the cases represent
only one component of a troubled system.

Under the Portillo administration, there have been four ministers of
government, seven directors of the National Civilian Police and 11
directors of the anti-narcotics unit.

Alleged inaction by the government led to the Bush administration's recent
decertification of Guatemala, marking the first time the nation has been
branded as having "failed demonstrably" in the fight against illegal drugs.

U.S. officials say the antinarcotics relationship was working well until
Portillo took office in January 2000. As evidence, they point to a stark
drop in seizures: In 1998, Guatemalan authorities seized 9.2 metric tons of
cocaine; in 1999, they seized 10.1 metric tons. In the three years since
Portillo assumed power, authorities have seized an average of two metric
tons each year.

Fernando Mendizabal, the recently appointed special prosecutor for
narcotics, concedes that a problem exists.

"When we are talking about drug trafficking, we are talking about highly
organized crime. It's run like a corporation," Mendizabal said. "It's
difficult to make advances against drug trafficking because they have so
much more resources than we do.

"They've managed to infiltrate all the security forces," he said. "There is
a lot of cooperation and that has made it very difficult for us to do our
jobs."

Mendizabal said Guatemala is in need of more resources and effective laws
to go after the kingpins: "We've been successful at getting the people who
move the drugs, but not the bosses."

Since decertification a month ago, high-level representatives from both
governments have met at least three times. Officials described the
gatherings as positive though the anticipated results remain precarious.

The primary line of defense against drug trafficking falls on the new
narcotics unit, known by the acronym SAIA. Agents on the 400-plus force are
trained at the U.S.-funded Regional Counter-Narcotics Training Center in
Babarena. The center provides training in all aspects of law enforcement
related to narco-trafficking, including courses on investigations, small
unit tactics, information analysis and human rights.

Felino Argueta Barrios, director of the center, said the scandals and the
decertification were a psychological blow to the program. He now tells
graduating recruits they have two responsibilities: "Seizing drugs and
recovering the prestige of the force."

Even as the U.S. government appropriates millions of dollars each year to
fund counter-narcotics efforts in Guatemala, officials are skeptical about
success.

"Although various high-level officials have pledged to engage the
counter-drug effort, they have been unable to affect or control the
deep-seated and well-entrenched culture of corruption that exists," the
DEA's Guevara told Congress.

Strategically located between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico,
Guatemala is not only a transshipment point for narcotics but a key storage
area as well.

The five key mafias identified in Guatemala are spread across the country
and drug trafficking is most prevalent in Zacapa, Izabal, Peten, Costa Sur
and Sayaxche, intelligence officials said.

Irked by U.S. criticism of Guatemala's antidrug efforts, the president
recently challenged the United States to take over security at the ports.

"Let them take over security; let's see if drugs don't keep entering with
them," Portillo told local media.

Guatemalan officials say that while they lament the decertification status,
the label has raised awareness and forced the government to act.
Authorities hope to implement a four-year plan in 2004 that calls for
tougher drug-trafficking laws, a witness protection program, funds to pay
informants and other tools to combat the increasing drug trade.

"We know there are many problems, but there is a will to defeat this,"
Mendizabal said. "I think that if we continue to work as we are, then we
will have good results. But we need economic and political support."