POLICE CHIEF'S KILLING MIGHT HURT MEXICO; ITS DRUG-WAR STATUS MAY BE DEBATED

TIJUANA, Mexico -- The slaying of Tijuana's police chief over the weekend
could not have come at a worse time for Mexico: Tomorrow, President Clinton
sends Congress his list of countries that are certified as U.S. allies in
the war on drugs, and Mexico will be on the list.

That will kick off another round of debate in Washington, with some
lawmakers expected to argue that Mexico does not merit certification
because it has not done enough to stop the flow of illicit drugs.

However, because Mexico is the United States' second most important trading
partner, congressional analysts say Clinton is unlikely to decertify the
country, even though drug seizures are down and authorities have had little
effect on drug-related violence or corruption.

Each year, U.S. presidents must certify the anti-drug efforts of countries
where drug trafficking and production have been a problem. Decertification
can lead to trade sanctions and a loss of economic aid.

The police chief of Tijuana was gunned down Sunday in an ambush that bears
the marks of organized crime, only days after Mexican President Ernesto
Zedillo promised to get tough on drug smugglers in the booming border area.

Alfredo de la Torre, police chief in the city just across the border from
San Diego, was killed as he drove alone toward his office from church.
Gunmen in sports utility vehicles opened fire on his Suburban. Initial
police reports said more than 100 shots were fired before his vehicle
swerved across a quiet thoroughfare into a palm tree.

Tijuana is home to the Arellano-Felix drug organization, Mexico's
second-largest drug cartel. It's also one of the country's biggest transfer
points for U.S.-bound drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and
methamphetamines, drug enforcement officials say. Drug dealers have not
been tied to de la Torre's slaying, but his killing was strikingly similar
to the 1995 slaying of a police chief that was linked to drug gangs. It
even happened on the same road.

The de la Torre killing raises "concerns [in Washington] that Mexico finds
itself in a position where this kind of violence occurs, and no one in an
official capacity can seem to bring those responsible to justice," said a
U.S. analyst who works with congressional committees on drug issues and who
spoke on condition that he not be named.

"The Mexican effort against drug smugglers amounts to no more than stopping
cars for random searches," said Jesus Blancornelas, editor of the Tijuana
weekly newspaper Zeta and the survivor of an assassination attempt by drug
cartel hit men in 1998. "There is no real federal investigation or
intelligence effort against drug lords."

Street skirmishes between drug gangs in Tijuana have killed at least two
dozen people in recent weeks, authorities say. In all, 80 slayings have
been reported this year in Tijuana, site of the busiest border crossing in
the world.

What's worse, U.S. officials say privately, is Mexico's seeming inability
to mount a police response. They say that ineptness has led to the escape
of high-profile drug suspects such as Mario Villanueva, the former governor
of Quintana Roo state, on Mexico's border with Belize, as federal
investigators were about to arrest him on charges of aiding drug smugglers.

On Friday, Zedillo assigned top members of his administration to discuss
the law-enforcement problem with authorities in Tijuana's state, Baja
California, this week.

"Organized crime has brought an onslaught of violence and an atmosphere of
intimidation that has naturally and justifiably caused indignation among
the people" of Baja California, Zedillo said in a speech two days before de
la Torre's slaying.

Every day, U.S. Customs Service agents in Tijuana intercept about a dozen
cars concealing drugs, customs officials say. And they say that for every
vehicle they catch, another 10 make it through the border checkpoint.

"We've had some success" against drug smugglers, U.S. Customs Service
Commissioner Ray Kelly said last week as he supervised agents stripping
enough marijuana and cocaine from the tire rims or tool compartments of
several vehicles to fill two shopping carts. Trained dogs, which roam the
vehicles lined up to cross into San Diego, sniffed out the drugs.

"But despite what you see here, there's plenty of stuff that still comes
through," Kelly said.