MEXICAN DRUG CZAR TOUTS IMPROVEMENTS IN ENFORCEMENT

Nation On Record Pace For Narcotics Seizures, Cooperating More With
Neighbors, He Says

MEXICO CITY - Just hours after gunmen attacked his security convoy last
month, Mexican drug czar Mariano Herran swaggered back to the scene and
declared, "It was an assassination attempt."

But now, investigators say the motive of the August attack in Mexico City
was probably robbery. A gang of young bandits wanted a 600 cc Honda
motorcycle ridden by one of the drug czar's bodyguards.

So Mr. Herran, 50, probably won't be getting any badges of honor - the grim
recognition that traffickers want him dead - anytime soon. But the drug
czar said in an interview he has made strides in the counternarcotics
fight. Enforcement is tougher than it has been in years, and the drug
cartels are feeling it, he said.

So far this year, Mexican authorities have seized a little more than 24
tons of cocaine, nearly 910 tons of marijuana, 321 pounds of heroin and
1,474 pounds of opium paste. And with those kind of results, Mexican
authorities say, 1999 is destined to be the most successful year for
seizures of any this decade.

Beyond Seizures

But it's not just about numbers, Mr. Herran said. His goal is to seal
Mexico's borders, to stop drug shipments large and small whether they're
moved by land, air or sea.

And to do that, Mr. Herran said he has stepped up cooperation with other
nations both north and south. The goal, he said, is a cohesive anti-drug
strategy that takes into account Mexico's need for protecting its
sovereignty while boosting cooperation with other countries.

"It's not an isolated effort," Mr. Herran said from his office in Mexico
City. "We have a national anti-drug program. We don't carry out operations
because we sit at a table and invent what we're going to do today or
tomorrow. There's a method to the way we do things."

So when the Mexican government prohibits American agents from carrying guns
while in the country, it's not that Mexican authorities are trying to
interfere with the international anti-drug effort, he said.

"Mexico is respectful of other countries' sovereignty. We ask for the same
respect. It's not that we're trying to fight with other nations for our own
reasons . . . to have a pretext to say we won't cooperate."

Mr. Herran said U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey has been very respectful of
Mexico's wishes, and that has helped increase cooperation and trust.

In the process, Mexico has been able to seize more drugs. Traffickers have
virtually stopped their efforts to smuggle narcotics into the country by
air because of Mexico's enforcement efforts, he said.

Authorities haven't had the same success in stopping ground and maritime
smuggling, but Mr. Herran said he expects greater progress over the next
two years.

Rebuilding Agency

Mr. Herran, a lawyer from the southeastern state of Chiapas, was named
director of Mexico's top anti-drug agency on May 1, 1997, about three
months after his predecessor, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, was charged
with taking bribes from the country's most powerful drug baron, the late
Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

During the general's brief stint as director, Mr. Carrillo and other
traffickers achieved "a brutal penetration" of the counternarcotics agency,
Mr. Herran said. The agency "had to be put back together and redone. It had
to be done step by step. And now that effort is bearing fruit."

The Gutierrez scandal shook the Drug Enforcement Administration's
confidence in Mexican law enforcement. Mr. Herran said he has worked to
restore trust between agents in the two countries and has seen progress.

Although some American officials remain skeptical, Mr. Herran said the
DEA's top agent in Mexico, Mike Garland, tells him, "That's politics. Here
we have a job to do."

At about 1:30 p.m. Aug. 15, gunmen attacked Mr. Herran's convoy as it
traveled through Mexico City. His guards returned fire, hitting at least
two assailants, and the drug czar escaped injury.

On Tuesday, Mexican authorities announced that they had questioned several
suspects, believed to belong to a gang dedicated to stealing cars,
motorcycles and jewelry. Robbery was probably the motive, they said,
although they are still investigating the possibility that traffickers may
have ordered the drug czar killed. Investigators are puzzled by one piece
of evidence: A newspaper clipping about Mr. Herran and copies of some
attorney general's papers were found at the home of one suspect.

For days after the attack, Mr. Herran said he believed traffickers had
targeted him because he has hurt the cartels.

Mr. Herran held a string of government and law enforcement jobs before
being named director of the anti-drug agency, formally known as the
Specialized Prosecutor for Crimes against Health, or FEADS by its Spanish
initials.

He has come under fire in the Mexican press for failing to capture any of
the country's big drug barons. Mr. Herran said the attorney general's
office has arrested some important smugglers - and had tallied nearly 8,500
drug arrests for 1998 at last count.

"We have targets, and we're going after them," Mr. Herran said, adding that
he hopes to capture at least one kingpin by the year's end.

Mexican authorities have also begun to trace drug shipments to their owners
in Colombia and other nations, getting an overall picture of the drug trade
for the first time, he said.

"We're exchanging intelligence information with Guatemala, with Colombia,
with the United States. Finally we're at a moment where we're linked up
with others on that information.

"We're getting better and better."