DEA CHIEF LAUDS FOX'S HELP AGAINST SMUGGLERS

U.S. Anti-Drug Agency Head Asa Hutchinson Tours The Nogales Area To Get A
Closer Look At The War On Drugs.

"We're trying to meet the president's mandate in reducing the amount of
drugs coming across into the United States," says DEA Administrator Asa
Hutchinson.

The nation's top drug cop wanted to see for himself the challenges his
agency faces in stemming the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
So yesterday Asa Hutchinson came to this city along the U.S.-Mexico border,
where drug arrests are common and thousands of pounds of cocaine and
marijuana are seized each year.

Hutchinson, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, credited
the "excellent relationship" between President Bush and President Vicente
Fox for a new level of cooperation between the DEA and its Mexican
counterparts.

The result, he said, is "an increased sharing of drug-trafficking
intelligence along the border."

Mexico's anti-drug efforts have "improved dramatically" under Fox, who has
significantly diminished government corruption in his country, Hutchinson said.

"But we understand fully there are many miles to go," Hutchinson said.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday morning at the DEA's Nogales
office, Hutchinson said intelligence sharing among U.S. and Mexican law
officers has resulted in significant arrests.

"We have become more effective, efficient in grabbing the amount of product
(drugs) they're trying to move through," he said. "We're trying to meet the
president's mandate in reducing the amount of drugs coming across into the
United States."

Hutchinson said two-thirds of this nation's drug supply arrives across the
Southwest border and through the West Coast.

He had no dollar estimate for the drugs being smuggled into the United States.

But he said the DEA's budget this year is $1.5 billion and "that's a small
drop compared to the illegal drug trade out there."

While Hutchinson said Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist group "clearly"
is being funded in part by the Mideast heroin trade, there is no indication
terrorist groups are funding operations with profits from drug trafficking
across Mexico's border with the United States.

Drug smuggling "must be prosecuted regardless of whether drugs are smuggled
for monetary gain or ultimately to fund terrorism," according to the DEA chief.

Hutchinson also visited DEA offices in Phoenix and met with law enforcement
officials in Flagstaff, where he announced the creation of a DEA office.