TIJUANA POLICE CHIEF'S KILLING SHOWS GRIM IRONY

Timing: U.S. Set To Certify Mexico As Ally In Drug Fight.

TIJUANA, Mexico -- The assassination of Tijuana's police chief over the
weekend could not have come at a worse time for Mexico: Wednesday, 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.

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 Ponce de Leon promised to get tough on drug smugglers in this
booming border area.

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

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

Uncomfortable Position

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 he not be named.

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.

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.

``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. In all, 80 slayings have been reported this
year in Tijuana, site of the busiest border crossing in the world.

Criticizing Police

While lauding the country's increased cooperation with U.S. agencies in the
drug fight, some officials are not pleased with the work of Mexican police.

``The Mexican police force is one of the worst -- if not the worst -- in
Latin America,'' said a U.S. official who asked not to be identified.

Another U.S. law enforcement official who has worked in the San
Diego-Tijuana region scoffed at Mexican and U.S. claims that the two
countries' agents are working together against drugs.

``There's no way I'd have a Mexican (drug agent) working in my office. It
would be like allowing a spy into our ranks,'' said the official, who also
asked not to be identified.

Every day, U.S. Customs Service agents in Tijuana intercept about a dozen
cars concealing loads of drugs. And drug agents say that for every vehicle
they catch, 10 others 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 wheel 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.