CUSTOMS SEEKS OWN INTELLIGENCE UNIT

WASHINGTON (AP) The Customs Service should be able to gather its own
overseas drug intelligence, without piggybacking on other federal agencies,
the agency's director believes.

Current tip-sharing arrangements with the Drug Enforcement Administration
and the CIA do not give him the tactical information he needs to foil drug
smugglers, Customs Director Ray Kelly said Thursday.

"We need what's coming across between 12 and 8 o'clock, and what's the color
of truck that's bringing it in, and what's the port of entry," Kelly said in
an interview with The Associated Press that also touched on the battle
against child pornography and polishing his agency's troubled image.

"We have the need for real-time intelligence" about shipments headed for
U.S. borders, Kelly said. "We need stuff that's coming in quickly, and we're
not getting it."

White House drug policy adviser Barry McCaffrey recently commissioned a
study of overseas drug intelligence that recommended a separate unit for
Customs, a government source said later.

The report, which has not been made public, was the starting point for
recent discussions between senior officials at the Treasury and Justice
departments, the source said. Separate meetings are scheduled next week
between Customs and DEA.

On other topics:

Kelly said his agency is doubling the size of a special unit tracking child
pornography on the Internet. Customs has long experience in anti-pornography
efforts, because many illegal photos and videos are produced overseas.
Customs agents and inspectors used to look for such contraband at the
borders or in airports, "but now it's coming in over the Internet," Kelly
said.

Kelly said he is tackling cronyism within the Customs ranks and making
changes quickly to reform the agency he took over last year.

"The cronyism," he said, comes about partly "because of local hiring, local
promotion, local discipline and local rulings."

Kelly said he is reshuffling managers, improving accountability and setting
up clearer chains of command. And he is cracking down on those who fall down
on the job. He cited the example of Customs employees in El Paso who broke
the rules recently by leaving a commercial incineration plant before their
cargo of seized marijuana was destroyed.

"We're looking to fire them," he said.

Kelly, a tough-talking former New York City police commissioner, said
Customs enjoys "a good relationship" with the DEA. But he said he would
prefer to have his employees, who are already stationed in more than two
dozen countries, gather their own information.

The two agencies have separate, overlapping duties at the nation's ports and
border crossings. Customs inspectors are the front line of drug
interdiction, searching baggage and people. The DEA investigates and helps
prosecute drug activity. The two agencies also serve different masters;
Customs is part of the Treasury Department and DEA is part of the Justice
Department.

Customs also gets some "strategic" information on drug smuggling from the
CIA, but Kelly said it has little relevance to specific seizure operations.

Kelly said he is "kind of in negotiations and discussions" with higher-ups
at Treasury and Justice about a Customs intelligence unit. "Will we do that?
I don't know," he said.

DEA spokesman Terry Parham said he is not familiar with the idea, but said
the current system works well.

"I think we are jointly working together, closely together," Parham said.
"We do work toward the same end and to achieve the same goal: Seize drugs
and put those responsible in jail."

There is no information on the structure, cost or other practical
considerations of a separate Customs unit.

Kelly said a dedicated Customs intelligence unit would gather information on
all contraband coming to the United States, but would focus on drugs.