CASE OF `KINGS OF METH' PUTS U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS TO THE TEST

Brothers are now high-stakes pawns in narcotics war

The capture over the last year of the three Amezcua brothers -- dubbed the
Kings of Methamphetamines by the Mexican media -- was applauded by officials
on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border as the biggest trophy of the year
in the binational war against drugs.

But the celebration quickly turned sour: In the past four months, Mexican
judges have dismissed all charges against two of the three alleged
kingpins -- most recently two weeks ago -- and ordered them freed. While
Mexican federal agents have succeeded, for the moment, in keeping the
brothers jailed, they have done so only on the basis of pending extradition
requests from the United States.

Now, Luis and Jesus Amezcua Contreras, the thirtysomething siblings accused
of smuggling most of the ``speed'' from abroad sold on the streets of the
United States, have become high-stakes pawns in the on-again, off-again
anti-drug partnership between Mexico and the United States.

Mexican officials, who have never extradited a Mexican citizen to the United
States on drug charges, said they believe the brothers have become a litmus
test for measuring Mexico's commitment to the drug war.

The battle over the brothers, who deny any association with drugs,
underscores the most contentious aspects of a fragile relationship now mired
in distrust, domestic politics and the growing power and influence of drug
mafias that neither government has been able to thwart.

The U.S.-Mexican relationship has taken such a precipitous dive in recent
months -- battered by continuing drug corruption scandals and political
sniping -- that both sides now say the U.S. Congress might not certify
Mexico as a reliable partner in the joint drug war unless Mexican officials
make a dramatic show of cooperation before next year's legislative vote.

``Mexico is on the path to becoming the first narco-state,'' said a
combat-weary U.S. official involved in bilateral relations who, like most of
his counterparts in both countries, agreed to a candid discussion of the
sensitive issue on condition that his name not be used. ``If I were (White
House drug czar) General (Barry) McCaffrey, I'd just pull the troops back
and guard the border.''

``Relations are terrible,'' conceded a senior Mexican anti-narcotics
official. He said there is a continuing debate within Mexican President
Ernesto Zedillo's administration over how to make peace with angry U.S. law
enforcement officials and politicians. ``The Mexican government has got to
give them something -- and they want these two people,'' he said.

At the heart of U.S. dismay, according to several senior officials, is
profound discouragement that Mexico has made so little progress in the drug
war that Zedillo has said is his country's most serious national security
threat.

U.S. critics complain that the quantity of drugs flowing through Mexico has
not diminished; that none of the major Mexican cocaine cartels has been
dismantled; that no Mexican drug traffickers have been extradited and that
the country's much-praised new anti-drug laws have been thwarted by corrupt
judges, inexperienced prosecutors and legal loopholes.

Mexican drug czar Mariano Herran Salvatti said in an interview that Mexico
has been working hard to improve its track record, and he cited the
Amezcuas' arrests as an example. ``The Amezcua organization has not been
operating since we detained the three brothers and seized 116 properties''
belonging to the family, including businesses, houses, ranches and service
stations, he said.

Another senior Mexican law enforcement official said the arrests may have
impaired the operations of one of the world's largest
methamphetamine-trafficking mafias but have not halted them.

McCaffrey defended the joint efforts. ``Throughout the worst of it, we have
found ways to cooperate,'' he said. ``The big problem is clearly the assault
by corruption and trickery of drug-trafficking organizations against police
and judicial authorities.''

Nothing has infuriated U.S. officials more than recent revelations that drug
traffickers have infiltrated three elite Mexican agencies created -- with
U.S. training and financing -- over the last year. Even Mexican Attorney
General Jorge Madrazo noted last month in his annual report to the Mexican
Congress that drug mafias continue to infiltrate his office, the federal
police and state prosecutors' offices because of the ``rivers of gold they
handle and their enormous capacity for corruption.''

The U.S. Customs Service had so little confidence in Mexican law enforcement
agencies that it did not tell them about a three-year undercover sting
operation, called ``Casablanca,'' linking some of Mexico's most prestigious
banks to drug-money laundering.

To strike back at the perceived attack on their sovereignty, Mexican
authorities threatened to try to extradite undercover U.S. agents who they
allege worked illegally in Mexico.

``We overreacted,'' said a Mexican official. ``As soon as we talked about
extraditing American agents, we lost all our friends in (the U.S.)
Congress.''

The political tension also has escalated in recent months because of
weakened presidents in Washington and Mexico City -- President Clinton
because of an impeachment inquiry, Zedillo because he is a lame duck who has
given up many of the authoritarian powers of his office.

Although Clinton swayed Congress to certify Mexico in years past, some
analysts predict the impeachment inquiry may sap his ability to step in as
Mexico's champion. At the same time, ``Zedillo is losing power, and that is
accentuated by the rise of the opposition'' political parties, said a senior
U.S. administration official. ``They can't afford to be seen as being chumps
of the Americans.''

Therein lies the importance of the Amezcua brothers, whose judicial path has
followed a pattern all too familiar to law enforcement agents on both sides
of the border.

Mexican prosecutors arrested Luis, 34, and Jesus, 33, in June, and Adan, 29,
last November. The two older brothers are wanted on drug-related charges
filed in 1994 and 1993 in California. Adan has not been charged in the
United States.

Mexican prosecutors never filed drug-trafficking charges against the men,
alleging only money laundering and weapons possession. Adan was convicted on
a gun charge, but judges dismissed all charges against his brothers for lack
of evidence. Charges also were dropped against 13 alleged associates, all of
whom have been released.

``If it weren't for the U.S. extradition request, both brothers would be
home now,'' a Mexican official said.

Feeling the pressure from the United States, senior officials in the Zedillo
administration have held marathon meetings over the last two weeks to find a
way to allow the extradition, despite a major court ruling earlier this year
that barred extradition in a similar case.

Checked-by: Don Beck