BORDER DRUG SEIZURES FOR FISCAL '99 SET RECORD

EL PASO - In another record-breaking year, U.S. Customs Service officers
along the Southwest border seized more than 1 million pounds of drugs,
according to statistics released Wednesday for fiscal 1999.

But if officers are confiscating larger quantities of drugs, does that mean
that more is coming across?

Authorities can say only that the seizures probably represent about a 10
percent success rate, said Gene Kervin, port director for the Customs
Service in El Paso.

"We are succeeding because we've caught more. But have we actually slowed
it down? I don't know," Mr. Kervin said. "It's like a water balloon: You
squeeze it here, and it pops up there."

The customs agency's challenge: Monitor the 88 million automobiles and 4
million trucks crossing into the United States each year at 28 ports of
entry along the border with Mexico.

Faced with such a task, authorities measure success by such factors as
whether the price of drugs goes up, which implies a decreased supply on the
streets. They also look for a drop in seizures of drugs concealed in cargo,
which means smugglers may be abandoning a long-preferred method of drug
trafficking.

The Customs Service performed favorably by both assessments during the
fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, Mr. Kervin said.

Officers confiscated a considerable amount of drugs.

For the entire border, from San Ysidro, Calif., to Brownsville, Texas, the
amount increased to slightly more than 1 million pounds from 863,415 pounds
in fiscal 1998.

At the ports of entry from Presidio, Texas, to the New Mexico-Arizona state
line, customs confiscated 269,021 pounds of illegal drugs in 2,403
seizures. Customs officers in South Texas - from Brownsville to Del Rio -
confiscated 187,611 pounds of narcotics, including such drugs as
methamphetamines, in 3,032 seizures.

Marijuana continues to be the drug seized in the greatest volume, followed
by cocaine and heroin. The most dramatic increase in seizures came out of
customs' El Paso area, where seizures of cocaine nearly tripled, to 7,547
pounds.

Authorities attributed the overall success to a year-old multiagency
enforcement program known as the Border Coordination Initiative. Directed
by customs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the initiative
is designed to more effectively share information and foster cooperation
among agencies. Other participants include the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the FBI, the Department of Agriculture and local law
enforcement.

"Without the cooperative efforts of the agencies, our successes would not
be possible," said Joe Webber, special agent in charge for the customs in
El Paso. "When we're efficient, we're effective."

Authorities said they are committed to putting a dent in the amount of
drugs smuggled into the United States despite limited resources. In El Paso
alone, the agency is short 41 positions, said Mr. Kervin, the port director.

"I don't think we have begun to close the door [on drug trafficking]," Mr.
Kervin said. "I think we've taken a couple of steps in the right direction,
that's for sure. But we still have a long way to go."