ASHCROFT LAUDS EXTRADITION OF ALLEGED DRUG LORD

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft heralded the arrest and extradition of
an alleged major Tijuana drug trafficker as a big step forward in the
United States and Mexico's cooperation in the war on drugs.

"Drug lords are on notice," Ashcroft said Saturday during a meeting with El
Paso sector Border Patrol agents. "Drug trafficking will not be allowed in
the U.S. or Mexico."

Arturo Paez Martinez, whom Ashcroft described as a lieutenant in the
Arellano Felix drug trafficking organization -- also known as the Tijuana
Cartel -- was released to U.S. officials Friday from a prison near Mexico
City, said Dan Nelson, a spokesman for the attorney general.

Paez was flown by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials to San
Diego, stopping Friday night in El Paso to refuel his plane. He will be
tried in federal court in San Diego on charges of directing the importation
and distribution of several tons of cocaine into the United States in the
early to mid-1990s, money laundering and the commission of violent crimes.

"This takes a major drug lieutenant off the street," Ashcroft said.

The announcement of Paez's extradition came during Ashcroft's first swing
through the Southwest as U.S. attorney general. Ashcroft toured Border
Patrol operations in Brownsville on Friday and in El Paso on Saturday. He
is scheduled to tour Immigration and Naturalization Service offices in
Douglas, Ariz., today and in Tucson on Monday.

Ashcroft oversees a budget of more than $20 billion and nearly 125,000
employees in the U.S. Attorneys Office, the FBI, the INS, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, and several other agencies.

Ashcroft used his visit to El Paso to pledge continued vigilance by the
United States in the border drug war. He also praised Mexican President
Vicente Fox's commitment to binational efforts in stopping drug
traffickers. An estimated $10 billion worth of narcotics enters the United
States every year through the illegal drug trade along the U.S.-Mexico
border, the federal government estimates.

Last year, El Paso Border Patrol agents seized $159 million in illicit
drugs, Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said. At his El Paso meeting,
Ashcroft said money for new personnel and equipment for border drug defense
is planned in President Bush's 2002 budget. El Paso would gain at least 25
new Border Patrol agents from a Bush proposal to add 570 new INS officers.
The El Paso sector has 1,100 agents who monitor 125,500 square miles that
includes El Paso and Hudspeth counties and all of New Mexico. They patrol
289 miles of international border.

Luis Baker, chief Border Patrol agent in El Paso, said the attorney general
was committed to a "safe and orderly border."

Ashcroft is accompanied on his Southwest tour by U.S. Sen. Sam

Brownback, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee, who
also praised Mexico's cooperation in the extradition and said immigration
would be a key issue in the Bush presidency. In February, Bush and Fox
created a binational panel, which includes Ashcroft, to deal with labor and
migration issues between the two nations. Fox and some U.S. lawmakers have
proposed a new guest-worker program to allow Mexican citizens to
temporarily fill U.S. jobs.

Estimates of the number of undocumented people in the United States range
from 6 million to 11 million. INS officials have said they are unsure of
the number of undocumented immigrants living in the El Paso area.

Ashcroft said he is moving forward with plans to study the prevalence of
racial profiling in federal agencies and to develop plans to eliminate the
controversial law enforcement technique.

"There should be no crime of driving while Hispanic," he said.

He also praised El Paso sector Border Patrol agents for their work in
safeguarding the border, which he called "the new Ellis Island."

During his remarks at a barbecue with El Paso agents Saturday, Ashcroft
gave commendations for bravery to six agents for their lifesaving efforts
during the county's July 2000 floods and for the rescue of an INS
helicopter pilot in April 2000. Receiving awards were David Gonzalez Pena,
Jose Chavez, Sal Durado, Guadalupe Chacon, Ricky Casler and Michael Rocha.