MEXICO RAILS AT U.S. DRUG COP'S FINGER-POINTING

MEXICO CITY, - Mexican Interior Minister Francisco
Labastida criticised the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration on Wednesday for blaming Mexicans for much of the drug
trade in the United States.

Labastida said DEA director Thomas Constantine was "totally wrong"
when he held Mexican crime syndicates responsible for a large chunk
of the drug distribution, violence and crime north of the border.

Constantine's remarks "reflect a vision in which the good are on one
side and the bad on the other," Labastida told reporters. "I deeply
lament what he said."

The DEA head was scathing in his criticism this week of corruption in
Mexican law enforcement. Labastida, who is responsible for law and
order in Mexico, said the DEA chief's remarks sought to "brake" the
search for understanding and cooperation between the two sides in the
war on drugs.

Constantine's remarks came less than a week before the White House was
due to decide whether to recertify Mexico and other countries in the
war against drugs.

President Bill Clinton was expected to recertify Mexico on Friday, but
the decision was likely to ignite a heated debate in the U.S. Senate.
Decertification could mean a loss of some trade and economic benefits.

Mexican newspapers said Constantine attributed much of the
drug-related violence and crime in the United States to the growing
power of Mexican cartels, which control the trade on the West Coast
and have made inroads in Chicago and New York.

Miami, one of the main entry points for cocaine, continued to be run
by Colombian mafias, he said.

U.S. drug enforcement officials say about 70 percent of the cocaine
sold in the United States passes through Mexico.

Constantine told a Senate hearing on Wednesday that the Mexican drug
cartels had more money and firepower today in the United States than
the Mafia ever did in its heyday.

He added that corruption in Mexican law enforcement institutions was
"unparalleled by anything I have seen" and hampered efforts to stop
illegal drugs flowing across the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border onto
U.S. streets.