FBI DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS NO LONGER AGENCY'S TOP PRIORITY

WASHINGTON-FBI director Robert Mueller said Tuesday that the war on
terrorism demands that the FBI pull agents away from narcotics task forces
and no longer make drug enforcement a top priority.

The comments, which came at the 20th anniversary celebration for the
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, followed statements by
Attorney General John Ashcroft reaffirming that the drug war would be
reorganized but not abandoned.

Ashcroft said law enforcement agencies have created a "most wanted list" of
54 drug organizations that must be toppled here and abroad. The list will
allow crime fighters to focus their resources, Ashcroft said.

But the FBI will be less involved in the effort because of the shift toward
preventing terror attacks and gathering information on terror groups in the
United States,_ Mueller said Tuesday.

"We ought to defer to the Drug Enforcement Agency on cartel cases," Mueller
said. "We will still participate but with fewer resources. Where there were
10 (FBI agents) on a drug task force in the past, now there will be five."

Mueller listed stopping terror attacks, counterintelligence and undermining
strikes at the nation's computer networks as the FBI's new top three
priorities. He listed corporate crime investigations as another major draw
on the FBI's resources.

Mueller has spoken before about the need to reallocate resources away from
narcotics enforcement, but Tuesday's comments were the strongest yet.

"(Sept. 11) has required us to look at our resources and make hard
choices," Mueller said. "That is the bottom line for us - participate (in
drug enforcement) but not in the ways we have in the past."

About 400 agents will be taken from narcotics efforts and placed on
counterterrorism task forces, Mueller said. There are 11,324 agents in the FBI.

The agency will focus on assisting narcotics enforcement when it intersects
with terrorism and in attempts to financially disrupt drug cartels.

Reaction to the message was mixed. John Fernandes, an assistant director of
the DEA in Los Angeles, said that the shift will not lead to more drugs on
the streets.

"We are broadening the war on drugs and looking for ways to fight smarter,
instead of harder," Fernandes said. "We are getting better at sharing
intelligence and resources to compensate."

Jim Schweitzer, special agent in charge of the FBI's Columbia office, said
South Carolina would lose a percentage of agents who investigate drug cases
if Congress approves the director's plan.

He does not know, however, how many of the 70 agents statewide would be
assigned to the war on terror.

"In South Carolina, every agent is vital, and losing an agent (from drug
cases) will be a loss, but we are working harder every day to work closer
with our state and local partners in all areas of investigations of drugs,
violence and cyber crime," Schweitzer said.

Seattle police officer Mike Helton said the FBI's diminished presence would
hamper efforts.

"Fighting the drug war will be harder without the extra manpower of the FBI
- - there is no way around it," Helton said.

"This is a signal that drugs aren't the most important thing anymore and
that will be reflected out across America."

Ashcroft said the Bush administration is committed to the drug war.

"I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom can
willfully abandon the goal of defeating drugs," Ashcroft said. "We will
defeat drugs."

The focus on terrorism has shifted the way law enforcement officers plan to
fight the drug war, with more concentration on cartel finances and
organizations.

DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said the agency is seeking new training
for agents and analysts and 20 special agents for money laundering cases.

Other agency chiefs who spoke at the conference alluded to the shift away
from fighting drugs. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins said
efforts aimed at narcotics enforcement fell by 90 percent after Sept. 11.
Coast Guard officials said the current figure is about 5 percent lower than
pre-Sept. 11 levels.

But the number of drug seizures has increased, Collins said, because of
searches aimed at stopping terrorists.

"These are not battles that must be fought separately," Collins said,
noting that two of the Coast Guard's largest cocaine seizures happened
after Sept. 11.