DRUG CZAR URGES COOPERATION

McCaffrey tells border that enforcement must be bolstered

Cooperation, rather than confrontation, and reducing the demand for drugs in
the United States would enhance U.S.-Mexican efforts to curb the flow of
drugs at the border, U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey said Friday.

He stressed that the drug cartel led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes "is one of
the most dangerous and corrupting forces" operating in the border region.

To deal with the threats of drug trafficking, "we must build a more adequate
Southwest law-enforcement presence," he said.

McCaffrey concluded his two-day visit to El Paso-Juarez with a tour Friday
of the new wing of the Enrique Camarena El Paso Intelligence Center and a
stop at the Compa=F1eros drug treatment center in Juarez.

The center's new wing, dedicated in December, adds 30,000 square feet to the
center at Biggs Army Airfield. It cost about $6 million and includes a
state-of-the-art 150-seat auditorium for training law-enforcement officers.

McCaffrey also met with Mexican officials, including Juarez Mayor Gustavo
Elizondo, and reviewed vehicle inspection stations and new scanning
technologies at the Bridge of the Americas.

Thursday, McCaffrey met with U.S. border law-enforcement officials and
announced that El Paso will be the new headquarters for the Southwest Border
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program. The plan to reopen in El Paso
an office phased out in California elicited a strong complaint from El Paso
County Sheriff Leo Samaniego.

Samaniego, who is chairman of the Southwest Area's program executive
committee, said his committee wasn't notified in advance about the plan. He
also said the committee had phased out the San Diego office "because it was
not doing any good, and we were saving $1.2 (million) to $1.5 million by
eliminating it."

The Southwest program, formerly based in San Diego, is a federal agency that
provides money and other support to counter drug trafficking. It has an
annual budget of $46 million and concentrates on specific border counties in
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Federal, state, and local law-enforcement organizations within regions of
the program assess regional drug threats and design plans to reduce or
eliminate the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution and
chronic use of drugs.

Samaniego said one of McCaffrey's assistants unveiled the plan at a dinner
with border U.S. law-enforcement officials.

"There were a lot of people upset (Thursday) night," he said. "We heard it
at 11 p.m. ... (McCaffrey) spoke for five minutes after that, and that was
it. The $46 million annual budget for the HIDTAs is the same thing we have
now." In light of the danger posed by the Carrillo Fuentes cartel, McCaffrey
said, he's puzzled at why Chihuahua state Attorney General Arturo Gonzalez
Rascon would say that his police won't arrest Carrillo because he knows of
no arrest warrant pending for Carrillo.

U.S. officials recently indicted Carrillo in connection with 10 murders in
Juarez, and Mexican federal officials have warrants for his arrest on
drug-smuggling charges.

"What the attorney general said was bizarre," McCaffrey said. "The primary
target of (Carrillo's) violence has been Mexican citizens. Given the
ferocity and savagery of the cartel, I don't know what he was thinking. They
don't just kill other drug traffickers; ... they're also gunning down
innocent bystanders."

When McCaffrey visited the border last year, he was given information about
El Pasoans and others who were "disappeared" in Juarez. Their abductions
were linked to corrupt law enforcement and drug traffickers.

A couple of the people reported missing turned up in clandestine graves in
Juarez unearthed by FBI and Mexican federal agents in December.

"This information came about as a result of citizen intervention," McCaffrey
said. "I turned it over to the U.S. Justice Department."

He said he previously discussed drug matters with Mexican President-elect
Vicente Fox and key staffers.

"They are determined to confront the drug issue; they are pragmatic, and
they listened," he said.

During his El Paso visit, McCaffrey said, U.S. border prosecutors complained
about insufficient funding for local courts to try federal drug cases. He
said the U.S. Marshals Service also needs more funding to house inmates
closer to where they will be tried and to avoid endangering certain inmates
or violating human rights.

Congress set aside $12 million for district attorneys along the U.S.-Mexico
border almost three months ago to help pay border courts'
multimillion-dollar tabs for prosecuting federal drug cases.

However, none of the district attorneys has received any money.

McCaffrey said the law related to funding for drug enforcement -- "and this
is a function of Congress" -- needs to be changed to include providing more
support to local jurisdictions.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com