U.S. TARGETS 12 OF WORST DRUG CHIEFS

[]Crime: White House steps up fight on narcotic traffickers. Move bars any
financial dealings with American companies or citizens at home or abroad.

WASHINGTON--Launching a process intended to take some of the profit out of
the narcotic trade, the Clinton administration on Friday named 12
international drug kingpins--half of them Mexicans--to a new list of
criminals considered so evil that Americans can draw jail time just for
doing business with their associates.

"This action underscores our determination to do everything possible to
fight drug traffickers, undermine their operations and end the suffering
that trade in illegal drugs inflicts on Americans and people around the
world," White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said in announcing the list.

All 12 names are familiar to counternarcotic forces. Some, like the
brothers Ramon and Benjamin Arrellano-Felix of the Tijuana cartel, are
almost household names. Most are under indictment in the United States, and
some are already in jail at home.

A new law approved by Congress last year is designed to make it far more
difficult for big-time traffickers to launder their profits through
seemingly legitimate businesses. It requires the administration to identify
and impose economic sanctions on all businesses linked in any way to the
kingpins. The administration plans to issue a second list later this year
citing hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of names of businesses associated
with the traffickers.

The direct effect of Friday's action is largely symbolic. The 12 kingpins
are prohibited from entering the United States, although they would be
unlikely to do so in any case because they are subject to arrest on
existing indictments. Any financial assets they hold in their own names can
be seized, but U.S. officials say it is doubtful if any such accounts
exist. And Americans are prohibited from doing business with them, although
such direct links are rare.

But the second step of the process is expected to have a devastating effect
on the cartels. Associates of the 12 kingpins would be barred from any sort
of financial dealing in the United States, or abroad with American citizens
or U.S. companies.

Americans who violate the statute would be subject to administrative
penalties of up to $1 million, or court-imposed criminal punishments of as
much as 10 years in prison and up to $10 million in fines for individuals.
Officers, directors or agents of companies would be subject to prison terms
of up to 30 years.

"This law goes directly after the cartels wherever they operate in the
world today," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor of the
statute. "Our goal is to isolate targeted drug traffickers and their
affiliated businesses by freezing their assets under U.S. jurisdiction and
[cutting] off their ability to do business in the United States."

No Colombian drug dealers were named because that South American country,
considered the home of the world's worst narcotic traffickers, is already
covered by a 4-year-old executive order imposing similar sanctions.

A senior Treasury Department official said that the separate Colombian list
includes seven kingpins and 526 affiliated companies and individuals.

The official said that several narcotic-linked Colombian businesses have
gone bankrupt "because they were so dependent upon the U.S. business
community." The official said that the new statute is expected to have a
similar effect on drug cartels in the rest of the world.

The second-stage listing of companies is expected to be far more
controversial than naming the kingpins because most of the target firms
have sought to conceal their connection with the narcotic trade.

In addition to the Arrellano-Felix brothers, Friday's list includes four
other Mexicans: brothers Jose and Luis Amezcua-Contreras, Rafael Caro
Quintero and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes. Also listed are Nigerian brothers
Abeni and Oluwole Ogungbuyi, Noel Timothy Heath and Glenroy Vingrove
Matthews of St. Kitts and Nevis, Wei Hsueh-Kang of China and Chang Chi-Fu
of Myanmar.

Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), the primary sponsor of the legislation, said
that the statute is useful even though the kingpins almost certainly have
no assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

"If this tool didn't exist, even if you were under indictment you could do
business with a bank," he said. "But you cannot now.

"This law enables us to fight the war on drugs year round, day in and day
out. This is the only way we are going to drive these cartels out of business."

Treasury officials said that there is no fixed schedule for issuing the
list of associates. One official said that it may be issued in installments
as companies are identified. In addition to Treasury, officials from the
State and Defense departments, the FBI and the CIA are working to compile
the list.