DEA'S LARGEST FIELD OFFICE IS IN BUSINESS

EL PASO -- The Drug Enforcement Administration showed off its newest and
largest field office here Tuesday, even as a former agency official said
the government took too long in building and staffing a facility in the
middle of a hot drug-trafficking corridor.

"This is the only one right on the border," said Robert Castillo, who will
be in charge of the division and more than 150 agents and narcotics
detectives.

"As of Oct. 1, we became operational, and this is significant because it
represents 740 miles or 40 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border in an area
that is a very heavily utilized drug corridor," Castillo said.

But Phil Jordan, a retired DEA official, said that even with the new office
and the larger staff, the agency still needs a larger force here and will
continue to play catch-up to the drug cartels.

"The cartels have unlimited resources," Jordan said. "Right now the cartels
have us outnumbered."

Castillo and Jordan were at a news conference as the four-story,
100,000-square-foot, heavily guarded facility in west El Paso was shown to
the news media.

The new field division extends from the Big Bend area to the New
Mexico-Arizona border. It includes 102 DEA agents, plus 50 officers from
other agencies assigned to work with the DEA.

Castillo said only about 40 agents covered the same geographic area four
years ago, and they were under the supervision of the Dallas, Houston and
Denver field divisions.

But Jordan said the new field division in El Paso comes just a little too
late and does not have enough manpower.

"We're playing catch-up now," he said. "We requested an expansion in this
part of the country approximately 10 years ago. The internal politics that
goes into getting something like this accomplished is mind-boggling."

He went on to ask: "If Washington had recognized that El Paso- Ciudad
Juarez (Mexico) is one of the most powerful drug entry points in the United
States, how many kids who have overdosed would still be alive?"

Jordan said officials with the Dallas and Houston field divisions appealed
for a stronger presence in West Texas and New Mexico, but those requests
were not granted while expansions were made to U.S. Customs, U.S. Border
Patrol and the FBI.

"That's my frustration with Washington, D.C.," he said, "and that opinion
comes from 33 years of fighting the drug war."

Jordan headed the Dallas DEA field office and was the director of a
multiagency, international organization that collects and distributes
information on drug-trafficking.

He also said 102 agents aren't enough to fight the army of drug traffickers.

"We could easily triple that just to level the playing field," he said.

About 1,000 agents would be a good strength, Jordan suggested, but politics
and economics make 300 agents a more realistic goal.

He went on to praise the opening of the new office here as "something that
is positive."

Bill Blagg of San Antonio, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas,
was among those who agreed: "This is a celebration for our officers."

And Tom Kelly, his counterpart in New Mexico, added: "Washington has come
to understand the critical role El Paso plays (in drug trafficking)."

About 70 percent of all illegal drugs enter the country through the
southern border, and a sizable chunk of that comes in through West Texas
and New Mexico.

Blagg said his office filed 3,000 cases last year, half of which were drug
related.

"This is the most productive area. The growth is unprecedented, second only
to California," he said.

Castillo said before the field office was opened, "It was hard to observe
what was happening here. Now with an increase in resources, the more we'll
be able to do."

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved the creation of the field office
about six months ago.

Officials said it will help coordinate efforts of the various law
enforcement agencies in the region.

Castillo was reminded that on a recent trip here, U.S. drug czar Barry
McCaffrey proposed creating a southern border czar who would coordinate
drug-interdiction efforts among all federal agencies.

"I won't comment on that," Castillo said.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski