TANCREDO PRESSES MEXICO ABOUT 'INCURSIONS'

Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo refused to
back down Monday from charges that Mexican officials may be illegally
entering the U.S., saying that U.S. law enforcement agents told him
they suspect the Mexicans are helping to smuggle drugs and illegal
immigrants across the border. The Republican from Littleton made the
new accusations after Mexico's ambassador to the United States
rebuked Tancredo for a letter the lawmaker sent Mexican President
Vicente Fox last week alleging Mexican army and law enforcement
officials regularly stage "incursions" into the United States.

In a weekend letter to Tancredo, Mexican ambassador Juan Jose Bremer
rejected that allegation but acknowledged that "supposedly unnoticed
or accidental" crossings do occur along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Each
and every case" is fully explained through diplomatic channels,
Bremer wrote. He also chided Tancredo for "the unpolite and
inadequate tone" of his letter to Fox and suggested he contact the
U.S. State Department.

Tancredo's one-page letter leveled six pointed questions at the
Mexican president, including one suggesting the incursions "are
undertaken to protect the traffic of drugs across the border and into
the U.S." Another asked: "For what purpose is the Mexican Army
crossing the border without the permission of the United States at
least twice a month?"

Tancredo said he learned of the incursions two weekends ago when he
toured the 1.8-million-acre Coronado National Forest, which runs for
60 miles along the Mexican border in Arizona.

U.S. law enforcement officers who belong to a multi-agency
"high-intensity area" drug enforcement team told him the forest is a
conduit for million of dollars in illicit drugs and thousands of
illegal immigrants.

The agents told him of nearly two dozen instances last year in which
Mexican officials were discovered inside the U.S. and said they
suspect the officials may be supporting the illicit trade, Tancredo
said, but he cited no hard evidence of their involvement.

When Tancredo asked if the Mexican officials could have become lost
in the forest, he said the agents burst into laughter.

Tancredo wrote Fox upon his return to Washington. His letter didn't
mention his briefing by law officers but made it clear that he
believed the crossings were not accidental.

Tancredo said Bremer's letter did not ease his concerns. "There is a
connection to the drug trafficking, and I wanted to know what they're
doing to stop it," said Tancredo, who has suggested sending U.S.
troops to guard the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kim Thorsen, deputy director of law enforcement for the U.S. Forest
Service, said smuggling of drugs and people is a major law
enforcement problem in the Arizona forest. Border enforcement
efforts, which are concentrated in major urban areas, have pushed
smugglers "to the path of least resistance, and that is the public
lands," she said.

Parts of the border in the forest have no fences, only cattle guards
over rural roads, she said. Some of the smugglers have had traffic
accidents with Forest Service and Border Patrol vehicles, and shots
have been fired at Forest Service officers, Thorsen said.

Tancredo said he plans to raise the issue with Rep. Henry Hyde,
R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, in
hopes Hyde takes up the allegation with the Mexican government.