U.S. DRUG CZAR SEEKING UNITY IN PLAN FOR GUARDING BORDER

EL PASO (AP) -- U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey met with border
officials Tuesday to begin firming up his plan to create a more
uniform, unified frontier against the international drug trade.

McCaffrey traveled from this West Texas urban center, which has one of
the state's busiest international bridges, to a barren New Mexico
desert to discuss the needs of the federal agencies on the front line.

He plans to use the information he gathers to refine his plan, which
centers around the creation of a "border czar" to coordinate efforts
along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

There is a need for someone who can "integrate all the infrastructure
planning so that we end up with a common way of operating against a
common threat," McCaffrey said.

"Drug criminals work the 2,000-mile border and the (seas). They've got
to get across someplace and if it's not good someplace they'll go
someplace else where it is good."

The border czar plan, to be presented to President Clinton this fall,
is aimed at eliminating soft spots in the enforcement net and pushing
traffickers away from current hot corridors such as the El Paso-Ciudad
Juarez area.

"We believe that within five years or so we can largely eliminate drug
smuggling across the southwest border," McCaffrey said. "It will then
move to the sea and other areas."

The plan, as outlined Tuesday, focuses on four areas: establishing a
border coordinator's office to create a unified policy; appointing
coordinators at each of the nation's ports of entry to oversee drug
policy and intelligence locally; ensuring agencies have adequate
staffing; and providing technology that will help border officers.

The border coordinator, who will likely be based in El Paso, will be
the linchpin. He or she will be empowered to cut across the many
jurisdictional lines and pull together the nearly two dozen agencies
now charged with different aspects of enforcement.

The different areas include drug interdiction, processing of cargo,
stopping illegal immigration and facilitating legal
immigration.

"I don't think the guy ought to operationally control the border --
directing people to move from one spot to another -- but should do
policy planning," McCaffrey said.

Though the proposal raises questions about some agencies losing some
of their jealously guarded autonomy, McCaffrey said he had already
seen support among different organizations, including Customs and the
Border Patrol.

"The problem will be that every one of these seven departments of the
(federal) government has its own congressional committee, its own
laws, its own budget," he said. "So how do we put together a concept
that they will find attractive?"

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a former Border Patrol official and an
enthusiastic supporter of McCaffrey's idea, agreed that getting the
government to accept the idea will be the hardest part.

"I think that's going to be one of the main challenges that we're
going to face," said Reyes, D-El Paso, who briefly joined McCaffrey's
tour. "I know the main challenge is being able to create a mandate to
do it. Once it's mandated, it will be done."

Critics questioned the need for such a move, however.

"Why does the drug czar need to hire someone else to do his job? How
many sub-czars are needed to win the war against drugs?" asked U.S.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, who chairs the House immigration
subcommittee.

"The administration should confront drug smugglers with more Border
Patrol agents, not an election-year public relations campaign."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry