N. TEXAS DRUG ROLE EXPANDS

Report: Railways Are Newest Threat

North Texas has become a major distribution hub for illegal drugs, thanks
to the area's central geographic location and easy access provided by
freeways, airports and railroads, a new federal report says. The drug
"threat assessment report" by the North Texas High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, found that one new concern to some federal and
local law enforcement agencies is the many freight and passenger railways
that connect Mexico with Texas.

Law enforcement authorities say the trains run through the Dallas-Fort
Worth area virtually unchecked. The report also identified Amtrak's plans
for a Dallas-to-New York route next year as an example of the opportunity
for drug traffickers.

"It's a challenge that I think we're probably not being successful with,
given the magnitude of the problem," said John Brown, Dallas special agent
in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Drug dealers are very
dynamic, and they use any means they can. So if Amtrak has a route from a
good transportation hub like Dallas to anyplace in the Northeast, they'll
jump on the opportunity."

Officials with Amtrak and other railroads said they were surprised at the
report's finding. They said that trains are an inconvenient method of
smuggling and that railroad police control the situation. HIDTA is one of
33 multiagency drug task forces that Congress set up across the country to
fight the drug war. The report was produced for internal use by its 38
member law enforcement agencies.

The report is the second since the North Texas HIDTA was funded by Congress
in 1999 and, building on last year's survey, is considered the most
comprehensive statement yet about the region's drug problems. In addition
to identifying the threat of smuggling along the rails, the report's
findings include: The drug that most threatens the public welfare in
North Texas is methamphetamine, an easily manufactured synthetic stimulant
similar to cocaine but cheaper. More than half of the 60 North Texas
agencies that contributed to HIDTA's study noted increases in
methamphetamine production in home labs or consumer use. Many rural police
departments reported their first discoveries of home labs that produce the
drug for local consumption. Demand for the drug rose dramatically in 2000,
reflected by street prices and falling purity.

Tractor-trailer rigs and personal motor vehicles remained the primary
transportation used by drug traffickers. They moved increased quantities of
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico through Dallas
to supply the Midwest and Northeast along interstates 30, 35, 45 and
20. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field, with
increasing freight and passenger services, also served smugglers in 2000.
Dealers also exploited North Texas' booming population and shifting ethnic
demographics by selling drugs locally.

The illegal drug "khat" made a significant appearance in the Dallas-Fort
Worth area during 2000. The drug is a leafy vegetable-type stimulant chewed
for centuries by people who live in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula, especially Ethiopians and Somalis. More than 600 pounds of the
leaf was seized in Dallas over a 33-day period early this year after being
shipped to D/FW Airport from Africa in mislabeled boxes. Cocaine in all
of its forms and Mexican black tar heroin remained plentiful in North
Texas, but use of the drugs did not increase significantly in 2000,
according to DEA case initiations, seizures and other indicators. Johnson
and Tarrant counties reported some increases in treatment admissions.

Mexican drug cartels, with help from Colombian organizations, dominated the
local drug trade, controlling the local distribution of marijuana, cocaine,
heroin and methamphetamine. In all, 57 Mexican organizations were
identified as having a presence in the area or smuggling through it. Gangs
from Eastern Europe and Asia did a robust business in "club drugs," such as
ecstasy. Limited resources Dave Israelson, director of the North Texas
HIDTA, said rail smuggling is much less common than smuggling by trailer
trucks or personal motor vehicles. Texas has the nation's highest volume of
truck traffic, with about 3,500 tractor-trailers now crossing the border
daily from Laredo. Mr. Israelson and other federal law enforcement
officials in North Texas say the report underscores the need for strategies
that can be effective with available but limited resources. The North Texas
HIDTA strategies are confidential, Mr. Israelson said.

The report, in addressing the railroad smuggling threat, identified
Amtrak's plans to create a Dallas-to-New York route next year as an example
of expanding opportunity for drug traffickers and diminishing law
enforcement ability to address the problem. Authorities seized more than
7.5 kilos of cocaine from Amtrak passengers last year, as well as 150 kilos
of marijuana.

The Mexican government also is privatizing its railroads and rail trade
through Texas under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, federal
officials in Dallas said.

Marijuana shipments have traditionally been found on the rails, but the
Mexican military last year began finding large amounts of cocaine,
including 2,300 pounds in April and May, the report said. Continued
vigilance Wayne Frandsen, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Customs
Service in Dallas, said his agency has neither the resources nor technology
to police increasing freight and passenger train traffic from Mexico. The
trains carry goods from as far away as South and Central America. The
agency's border posts recently acquired some X-ray technology capable of
monitoring some freight, but experts say the few machines can make only a
token impact.

A representative of Texas Mexican Railways said the machines installed in
April 2000 work well and supplement aggressive physical checks by railroad
police on both sides of the border.

Kevin Johnson, spokesman for Amtrak, said demand for the Northeast route
"overwhelms the sensible consideration of increased opportunities for
illegal drug activity."

"With any service expansion, Amtrak will continue to be vigilant and
diligent in its efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs at our facilities
or our trains," he said.

"It's coming as kind of a shock to me," said Bill Galligan, a spokesman for
Kansas City Southern Railroad, which partners with Mexican railroads. "I
know of absolutely no problems with the trains being closely scrutinized in
terms of U.S. Customs in our experience with Mexico trade. Trains are not
the best way to move drugs because they're confined. There's no way the
smuggler can control what's going on."