COALITION PROPOSES TO FORGE ANTI-DRUG EFFORT

Local drug smugglers, dealers, buyers and abusers will become the target of
a Border Drug-Free Coalition that wants to fuse the cooperation between
anti-drug agencies from law enforcement to new legislative measures to
combat the illegal drug industry.

The two-day Border Conference on Strategies to Combat Drugs will be held
Oct. 11-12 at the Laredo Civic Center, said Judge Jesus Garza at a Monday
press conference.

Speakers at the conference said the purpose of the two-day session is to
increase awareness of illegal drugs in the community. Look at the
cooperation between service providers and law enforcement agencies. The
coalition also wants to identify resources and funding needs and establish a
legislative agenda.

The coalition is made up of state and federal law enforcement, local judges
and educational entities.

State Senator Judith Zaffirini and State Representative Henry Cuellar are
two of the more than two dozen speakers that will address those attending
the public conference.

Justice of the Peace Oscar Martinez said the coalition will also seek to get
more parents involved with their children.

"The family unit is extremely important for the child to be able to cope
with the peer pressure at school. The mother and father need to know where
their children are and who they are hanging around with," Martinez told the
gathering.

Judge Martinez said all JPs see the problems when a student is brought to
their courts because he or she was disrupting the class.

"We have a problem because our juvenile detention center is not big enough.
So if a child is caught with drugs, he is released the next day and they go
back to the same environment," he said.

Martinez said there are parents that check their children's clothing, books
and other belongings for drugs that are sold to them, mainly by adults.

To set up a battle against drugs in Webb County, everyone is needed, said
Martinez.

"What we need is a unified effort by all law enforcement, teachers,
counselors, parents, judges and all citizens. It has to be a unified effort
to get rid of it," he said.

Webb County has a very serious problem with drugs and children, Martinez
explained.

DEA Agent in Charge Zenford Mitchell told the gathering that drug dealers
are using more teens as smugglers.

"They are getting kids off the streets in Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, using
them as a family to transport the drugs past the checkpoint," Mitchell
explained.

South Texas Counsel on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Director Miguel Lopez told the
gathering that a coalition of this nature was long in coming.

Lopez said he met with Judge Elma Salinas Ender more than a dozen years ago
on the local drug abuse problem.

"She told me, 'you are a lone ranger and it's an (drug problem) issue that
is not going to go away.' "The issue with drugs is a very social and complex
issue. The answer is simple, and it starts with us uniting together, holding
hands, recognizing what the problem is and identify the answers," said
Lopez.

Other agencies participating in the two-day conference include Mercy and
Doctors Hospitals, Laredo Housing Authority and Judges Raul Vasquez, Danny
Valdez, Manuel Flores and District Attorney Joe Rubio.

For additional information on participation or attending the conference,
contact Judge Jesus Garza at 718-8640.