POLICE SEARCH HOME -- 300 TIMES

CIUDAD NEZAHUALCOYOTL, Mexico -- Andres Vazquez thought his recurring
nightmare was over, but it has come back to haunt him.

The Mexican man says his home has been searched by police more than 300
times over the past eight years. They come looking for Mexico's most wanted
drug lords, kidnappers, assassins and thieves.

They never find any evidence, yet they keep coming back.

Vazquez, 65, who makes a living tanning goat and lamb hides in his two-story
home in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, a working-class suburb of Mexico City,
figured the worst was behind him. The late-night knocks on the door stopped
back in March.

Then they resumed this month.

"We were thinking about it and reached a conclusion," said police Cmdr.
Ruben Castillo of the federal anti-drug police, who visited the Vazquez home
Nov. 6 upon receiving an anonymous tip that Colombians had dropped off a
cocaine shipment there.

"This man works in an environment with a very strong odor, as there is some
rotting of the skins. Either it's a relative or a neighbor who doesn't like
the smell," Castillo said.

"I'm looking for someone to advise me on what to do," said Vazquez, who
complained that he once hired a lawyer and another time a private
investigator to look into the mystery, but they only took his money
without producing results.

After the first few years of searches, Vazquez began documenting and
videotaping the visits, leaving no doubt that a parade of local, state and
federal police agencies invaded his home.

All they found were some animal skins and tanning equipment.

Vazquez and his 11 children, all of whom work in the family business, have
held frank discussions about whom they might have angered to provoke such a
response. The most remote possibilities have been considered. All were ruled
out.

Castillo also concluded Vazquez was an innocent victim.

"We even ended up buying a jacket from him," he said.