HAILED AS DRUG-FIGHTING ALLY, MEXICO LOOKS TO BE LOSING WAR

Cartels' Penetration Rising, DEA Chief Says

Washington - Just ahead of President Clinton's expected endorsement of
Mexico's
counter-drug effort, a top Drug Enforcement Administration official
said Wednesday the Mexican narcotics cartels' penetration of the
United States has increased dramatically.

Clinton is expected to "certify" Friday that Mexico fully cooperated
with American counter-drug efforts last year. The announcement is part
of an annual process that evaluates the law enforcement performance of
drug source and transit countries.

DEA Administrator Thomas Constantine strongly suggested to the Senate
Caucus on International Narcotics Control that the drug war, as far as
Mexico is concerned, is being lost. But he stopped short of saying
Mexico should be decertified.

Several senators joined Constantine in expressing exasperation over
Mexico's seeming inability to make headway against the drug kingpins.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said that if the issue comes before the
Senate, he would vote to decertify.

Constantine said that the corruption in Mexican civilian law
enforcement has no parallel with anything he has seen in 39 years of
police work.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., expressed grave disappointment over
Mexico's record in extraditing drug kingpins to the United States for
trial, saying only in one minor case has Mexico approved such
extradition requests.

The administration generally acknowledges that Mexico's anti-drug
efforts have fallen short but not for lack of trying.

"There is a difference between cooperation and success," the State
Department said earlier this month.

Some senators advocated new approaches.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said the United States might be better off
just buying all the production of South American drug chieftains and
then destroying it. Such an approach, he said, would be cheaper than
the current strategy emphasizing eradication and interdiction.

Mexico is a major transit point for U.S.-bound cocaine shipments from
South America. It is also a major producer of marijuana and a
significant producer of heroin.