PLAUDITS - INTENSIFYING THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS IN HAITI

Hats off to the Haitian government for sending a suspected drug
trafficker to where he reliably can be charged and put on trial -- the
United States. That's an encouraging sign of counter-narcotics
cooperation from a government that's come under U.S. pressure as it has
become an increasingly popular way station for cocaine sold to American
consumers.

Carlos Botero Asprilla, a Colombian native with a previous U.S.
trafficking conviction, had been in a Haitian jail since being picked
up
on a cocaine-laden boat some weeks ago. Haitian authorities put him on
a
plane to Miami, where U.S. marshals detained him last week.

Haiti's weak anti-drug efforts have led some in the U.S. administration
to suspect that high-level Haitian officials are involved in the
illegal
trade. Expelling more suspected traffickers to the United States, where
the justice system more reliably can prosecute and jail them, can do
much to reverse suspicions.
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