COCAINE TRAFFIC TO U.S. THROUGH HAITI INCREASES

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - U.S. officials estimate cocaine trafficking
through Haiti increased by 17 percent last year, with virtually all of
the shipments heading for the United States and Europe.

The reasons are clear: geography, poverty, government paralysis, a
disbanded parliament, a dysfunctional criminal-justice system, a
largely unprotected coastline and an understaffed and inexperienced
police force with limited resources.

U.S. officials estimate 54 metric tons of cocaine went through Haiti
in 1998, a 17 percent increase over 1997. The estimates are based on
the amount of cocaine that is seized, which provides a basis for
determining the volume of overall traffic, and on various intelligence
sources

Much of the cocaine is taken to Haiti's southern peninsula by
so-called "go-fast" boats, which can make the trip in as little as 10
hours from Colombia under the proper weather conditions. Commercial
airline flights from Panama are another source of cocaine shipments.

Much of the cocaine then crosses the border into the Dominican
Republic, with which Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola, and then
on to Puerto Rico. Officials say other loads make their way by ship -
often from Haiti's north coast - and aircraft into South Florida and
Europe.

So concerned has Washington been with Haiti's emergence as a major
drug country that the Drug Enforcement Agency presence in Haiti has
been boosted from one to seven agents over the past year.

In 1998, according to U.S. officials, DEA technical assistance was
expanded to include polygraph testing of the new police
counter-narcotics unit. Other developments include an agreement on a
new Joint Intelligence Coordination Center, reduction of cocaine
flowing through the Port-au-Prince airport by DEA-mentored task
forces, and targeting of the seaport for spot checks.

Washington's concern was further reflected in the Feb. 26 release of
the State Department's annual International Narcotics Control Strategy
Report assessing the cooperation of 28 major drug-producing and
drug-transiting countries.

Haiti and Paraguay were the only countries in this hemisphere to
receive "conditional" certification - essentially, a waiver - which
means the countries failed to meet certification requirements but will
not be sanctioned. This, say U.S. officials, "accommodates U.S.
concern over the need to strengthen Haitian anti-drug laws and
enforcement while continuing to support Haiti's fragile economy."

While critical of the government, U.S. officials still say they are
getting full cooperation from Haiti's two top law-enforcement
officials - Robert Manuel, secretary of state for security in the
Justice Ministry, and Pierre Denize, director general of the
6,300-member Haitian National Police.

Denize said efforts have been made over the past three years to
improve Haiti's monitoring of the frontier, including enlisting a
96-member Coast Guard and a 25-member counter-narcotics unit.

"The improvements are noteworthy," says Denize, but he adds that "the
missing parts are just as noteworthy. The Haitian Coast Guard, for all
of this coastline, has four Boston Whalers and a refurbished 40-foot
Haitian army Coast Guard cutter."

While transshipment is the biggest problem, Denize says there are
clear indications of money laundering, particularly in real estate.

"I think the prices of real estate, both in acquisition and rental,
are very deeply affected by the economics of drug trafficking. What we
have is an overwhelming activity in terms of money laundering, where a
house is worth $50,000 and a guy comes in and says how would you like
to sell me your house for $300,000? This is really what's happening,
you know."