GAINS CITED IN DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON (AP) The United States and allied countries made "solid gains"
in efforts to control narcotics trafficking in 1998, the State Department
said today, citing progress in crop reduction, drug interdiction and other
areas.

In its annual report on the illicit drug trade worldwide, the department
said the most encouraging development in 1998 was the continued downward
trend in illicit coca cultivation.

"The total coca crop remains at its lowest level in 10 years, even
factoring in a sharp rise in cultivation in Colombia," the report said.

Separately, President Clinton was issuing his assessment of the counterdrug
performance of 28 countries considered major sources of illicit narcotics
or transit points for narcotics shipments.

Clinton has signaled his intention to "certify" Mexico as being fully
cooperative with U.S. counternarcotics activities despite a reduction in
narcotics seizures and other setbacks in the drug war last year.

Countries found not to be fully cooperative are "decertified" and can face
economic sanctions. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., indicated
there may be a Senate move to overturn Clinton's expected endorsement of
Mexico's counterdrug efforts.

White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey said Thursday that
refusing to certify Mexico as a fully cooperating partner in the fight
against drug trafficking would send an unwise and wrongheaded political
message.

Jeffrey Davidow, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said the United States
appreciates Mexico's efforts. "Acting alone, we cannot face, we cannot
confront and beat the narcotics traffickers. We have to do this in a
cooperative fashion," he said.

Eight countries were decertified last year: Colombia, Cambodia, Pakistan,
Paraguay, Afghanistan, Burma, Iran and Nigeria. The first four were given a
presidential waiver on national security grounds and therefore were not
subject to sanctions.

In December, Iran was removed from the list of drug problem countries
because of an ambitious campaign against the opium poppy, from which heroin
is produced.

The State Department study, titled International Narcotics Control Strategy
Report, said overall coca cultivation in the Andean countries fell 17
percent to 471,000 acres last year.

"The most dramatic decline was evident in Peru, once the world's largest
coca producer," the report said. "Peruvian coca cultivation in 1998 fell 26
percent from the year before, and is now 60 percent below the peak level of
1990," it said.

The massive 733-page document also evaluates the illicit narcotics
situation country-by-country.

It said Colombia remained the world's leading producer and distributor of
cocaine and is a major source of heroin and marijuana.

A combined U.S.-Colombian eradication program had its best year ever in
1998, successfully spraying over 160,000 acres of coca, an increase of 50
percent over 1997. Nonetheless, overall product increased because of
stepped-up cultivation, the report said.

According to the report, Mexico continues to be the primary route for
northbound South American cocaine and is a major source of marijuana,
heroin and methamphetamine.

Despite a comprehensive anti-drug strategy, the report said, cocaine
seizures were down 35 percent and opium cultivation increased by 25 percent.

"Persistent corruption at all levels of the justice sector and frequent
changes in personnel have combined to hinder Mexico's ability to meet the
goals of its anti-drug strategy," the study said.