CLOUD OVER MEXICAN ANTI-DRUG FORCE

Two years ago, U.S. and Mexican officials, frustrated by corruption
in Mexican law-enforcement agencies called on the Mexican Army to take
the lead in fighting the drug war. Forming the backbone of the effort
were new, screened units trained by the U.S. Special Forces and given
helicopters for mobility.

But now the program is facing the same evil it was formed to combat.
About 80 members of the elite units have been under investigation in
recent weeks amid allegations that some of them took hundreds of
thousands of dollars in bribes to sneak cocaine-filled suitcases and
illegal immigrants through the Mexico City airport on their way to
the United States.

Nine of these Mexican soldiers have been jailed on formal charges and
five more have been detained. On Sunday, civilian authorities removed
40 of the troops trained under the Special Forces program from their
assignments at the airport as a result of the corruption
investigation.

The Mexican units, whose leaders were given Special Forces training at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are called Airmobile Special Forces and
are widely known by their Spanish acronym GAFE.

The United States pays $28 million a year for the program, and 252
Mexican officers were trained in its -first 18 months, with another
156 officers scheduled for training by the end of fiscal 1998,
according to the Pentagon.

The U.S.-trained officers then train other groups in Mexico, and by
now there are supposed to be 42 units of 100 soldiers each stationed
around the country.

Candidates for the elite units are vetted by Mexican and U.S.
officials. Those sent for training in the United States have their
names checked against databases of suspected drug traffickers kept by
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Central Intelligence Agency
and the Defense Intelligence Agency. They also receive higher salaries
than troops outside the units to make bribes less tempting.

The elite troops who worked at the Mexico City airport were trained by
Mexican trainers, not directly by U.S. Special Forces. But U.S.
officials said the indications of possible graft were a blow to their
efforts to establish several corps of incorruptible drug fighters on
both sides of the border.

"After a while you wonder what the hell you are doing there,': said a
law-enforcement official. "There is no one there we can trust
completely. This was supposed to be the group we could trust and work
with. "

Said a Mexican official: "They are supposed to be the door-kickers and
have the capacity to go after the drug traffickers and offer the best
support available. It is a matter of concern to us they reportedly
were loaned out to other agencies, and we are investigating why that
is."

Law-enforcement operations at Mexico City's Benito Juarez
International Airport were taken over by an elite unit in April 1997.

Within the last five months, nearly 20 of the approximately 80
officers and troops assigned there have been arrested on charges of
protecting drug shipments, assisting illegal immigrants and
shepherding electronics and other high-duty imports past customs
agents, according to Mexican investigators.

The most recent case, in which 14 soldiers were detained on Aug. 9,
involved members of the anti-drug unit who protected suitcases each
containing cocaine that arrived on a flight from Bogota every Tuesday
for the past six months.

Military officials reportedly were paid $2,500 for each suitcase

delivery, the investigator said.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady