CUSTOMS ADMITS SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DRUG CORRUPTION

The front-line role of the Customs Service in the government's war
against illegal drugs has left the agency highly vulnerable to
narcotics-related corruption, Customs officials acknowledged yesterday
in a report to Congress.

The report, which was sent to a House panel with jurisdiction over the
agency, admitted that the service had failed to aggressively combat
corruption among its 12,000 field inspection employees.

"The large amounts of illegal drugs that pass through U.S. Customs
land, sea and air ports of entry and the enormous amount of money at
the disposal of drug traffickers ... to corrupt law enforcement
personnel place Customs ... employees at great risk to corruption,"
the report concluded.

Once focused on preventing entry of illegal trade goods and farm
products, Customs has been thrust into interdicting narcotics, as
inspectors monitor more than 300 ports of entry through which illegal
drugs flow into the United States.