DESPITE U.S. AID, COCAINE FLOWING

WASHINGTON - It will be years before the millions of dollars the U.S.
is pumping into the Colombian economy has any impact on halting the
flow of illegal drugs out of the South American country.

A report issued by the General Accounting Office determined that
despite efforts by the government to launch a $7.5 billion
counter-narcotics plan known as Plan Colombia, ''it will take years
before drug activities are significantly reduced.''

''U.S. agencies are still developing comprehensive implementation
plans and manufacturing and delivering equipment and finding and
placing staff in Colombia to manage activities will take time,'' the
report said. ''As a result, agencies do not expect to have many of the
programs to support Plan Colombia in place until late 2001.''

Plan Colombia, undertaken with American assistance, proposes to reduce
the cultivation, processing and distribution of narcotics by half over
six years - a timetable that the report indicates is unlikely to be
met.

To assist that effort, the Clinton administration last July agreed to
provide $860 million in foreign aid to the Colombian government in
2000-2001 - after having already allocated more than $330 million
during the same period.

From 1996 to 2000, the U.S. provided Colombia with more than $765
million in assistance to support anti-drug efforts. Yet, according to
the report, coca cultivation and cocaine production more than doubled
in Colombia from 1995 to 1999.

Colombia now ranks third in the world in the amount of foreign aid it
receives from the U.S., behind only Israel and Egypt. The funds are
intended to bolster Colombia's teetering government and, more
specifically, reduce illegal drug production and trafficking activities.

Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine and has become a
major source of the heroin being distributed in the U.S.

The State Department originally thought the $1.19 billion in
assistance to Colombia in 2000-2001 would provide the necessary
equipment, training and technical assistance to meet the country's
needs.

''However, considering the planning weaknesses and complexity and
breadth of the programs, more funding and time will be needed to meet
Plan Colombia's goals,'' the GAO said.

The report, prepared for the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice,
Drug Policy and Human Resources, also noted that, in the past, the
U.S. ''has not always provided the proper training, financial and
logistical support for Colombia to operate and maintain the
U.S.-provided helicopters and other major equipment items.''

''If these past problems continue, the GAO said, ''the dramatic
increase in U.S. support for Plan Colombia will not be used in the
most effective way.''

James L. Millette, the State Department's acting chief financial
officer, said the agency agrees with the conclusion that U.S.
counter-narcotics assistance ''will require time to produce
meaningful, positive results.'' The department is in the process of
identifying the training and logistical support requirements.

Michelle Manatt, director of legislative affairs for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, added that the Clinton administration
''realizes the magnitude of the challenge facing us in Colombia (and)
has established appropriate high-level management structures'' to
oversee assistance in the region.

U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, of Terrace Park, one of Capitol Hill's
leading anti-drug voices, said there needs to be an increased focus on
implementing the counter-narcotics strategy in Colombia.

Even if Colombian efforts proved successful, Portman said, production
could move to Peru and Bolivia where problems existed in the past.