U.S. CZAR: DRUG WAR IS NO REAL WAR

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey said Wednesday that
drug traffickers from foreign countries have forced American gangs out
of the U.S. wholesale drug trade.

``The gringos just can't compete,'' McCaffrey said, noting that
American traffickers are more easily detected and are less likely to
pile up the proceeds in accounts hidden abroad.

McCaffrey said the U.S. competition was coming from traffickers
hailing from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Mexico and Nigeria.

He cited the latest intelligence reports to show that drug trafficking
is more complex than commonly thought.

He said leftist rebels in Colombia protect cocaine shipments -- and
even coordinate planting the crop and move shipments. But right-wing
paramilitary groups fighting the rebels also operate cocaine
processing labs, he said.

Traffickers are also beginning to target Panama as a transfer point
for heroin shipments to Central America and the Caribbean, taking
advantage of gaps in that country's security forces, he said.

McCaffrey said the influx of drugs into Panama was not a direct result
of the U.S. withdrawal from the Canal Zone in December, but rather
because of the Panama's border with Colombia and airline flights from
Panama City to other parts of Latin America.

McCaffrey spoke to reporters during a three-day visit to talk with
Mexican leaders about the new U.S.``drug kingpin'' law. The law, which
takes effect June 1, will allow for the freezing of U.S. assets of
foreigners linked to drug trafficking.

McCaffrey said the about 55 percent of the cocaine used in the United
States is shipped through Mexico or Mexican waters. Previous estimates
placed that figure at 70 percent.

The retired Army general said Mexico's Pacific coast has become the
largest route for cocaine shipments, usually aboard fishing boats far
offshore.

The second most popular route, he said, was to ship cocaine from
Colombia to Central America, and from there to Haiti or Jamaica, and
on to U.S. ports.