DRUG WAR COST RISES

Am I missing something here? Drug Enforcement Agency agent Salvador Martinez
chooses to plead guilty in an attempted murder-for-hire plot against the
killer of Bruno Jordan (the slain brother of former DEA agent Phil Jordan).
Of course, Mr. Jordan insists that Mr. Martinez would have been found
innocent of the charges, but Mr. Martinez pleaded guilty in order to save
his family from enduring a trial. Right.

I'm sure Mr. Martinez was represented by competent legal counsel. Perhaps he
pleaded guilty to the charge because the FBI had such a compelling case
against him. Not to mention the fact that he planned to use U.S. taxpayers'
funds to pay for the killing!

Yet Mr. Martinez's relatives believe he was "set up" by an informant. You
know, the same type of informant Mr. Jordan routinely relied upon to secure
the convictions of drug dealers while he was with the DEA.

I am truly sorry that Mr. Jordan lost his brother. But Mr. Jordan's and Mr.
Martinez's actions as DEA agents have accomplished nothing. While they and
others like them have imprisoned untold thousands, the availability of drugs
has skyrocketed, while their cost has continue to decline.

As Mr. Martinez's case illustrates, our country is beginning to suffer from
the same widespread judicial and law enforcement corruption that is
currently undermining democracy in Mexico.

How much longer are we going to fight the "drug war"?

PHILIP SCHNEIDER, Dallas