U.S. OFFICIAL DEFENDS MEXICO STING

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The top U.S. drug policy official defended using U.S.
undercover agents in a money-laundering sting in Mexico but acknowledged
Monday "there is room" for better tactics in the cross-border war on drugs.

Mexico has criticized the three-year operation as a violation of its
sovereignty. American undercover agents appear to have operated in Mexico
without securing government approval for the sting, which U.S. officials
said involved 167 arrests and led to the seizure of $96 million and several
tons of drugs.

Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey defended the operation in a news briefing with
Attorney General Janet Reno and other U.S. officials during a U.N. General
Assembly special session on drugs.

McCaffrey said one country cannot fight the drug problem alone.

``We have to do this in partnership with our neighbors and with absolute
respect and deference for their own sovereign institutions,'' said
McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

He acknowledged, however, that ``there is room here for us to look through
how we can even more effectively coordinate these (operations) in the future.''

Later, he told reporters that while the United States was proud of the job
the U.S. agents did, ``we'll just have to find a way to do this better in
the future.''

Reno said that the U.S.-Mexican effort to fight drugs was still on course.

In a speech to the General Assembly earlier Monday, Mexican President
Ernesto Zedillo referred indirectly to the operation, which has prompted
Mexican officials to call for the extradition of the U.S. agents to face trial.

He called for a ``balanced strategy ... so that no one can become the judge
of others; and no one feels entitled to violate other countries' laws for
the sake of enforcing its own.''

U.S. officials have said they needed to keep the operation secret to ensure
the safety of American agents.

``It is not a matter of disrespect,'' Reno said in explaining why Mexican --
and even top U.S. officials -- were not informed of the sting. The goal, she
said, was to conduct an investigation ``while at the same time protecting
the lives of the agents involved.''

Also Monday, Colombian President Ernesto Samper told world leaders at the
drug summit that his country, the world's leading producer of cocaine, has
been unfairly criticized by the international community.

Samper said Colombia spends more than $1 billion a year fighting drugs --
equal to 21 percent of what it would cost to provide education for all
Colombian children.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett