DRUG CZAR UNDERLINES PREVENTION

Increased use of military technology, rather than militarizing the border
with ground troops, will be a key tool in a combined U.S.- Mexico effort to
combat drug trafficking, White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey said here
Saturday.

"(The military) must provide support in those ways that are legal and
politically acceptable to the people," the retired general said during an
interview at the St. Anthony Hotel.

"We need to protect the American people, and that is the job of federal and
state law enforcement," he said. "We don't need to take a New Jersey tank
battalion, dismount them and put them on the border with their combat skills.

"We need to use police officers. That is the solution."

He called the May 20, 1997, shooting death of Esequiel Hernandez by a U.S.
Marine patrolling the border at Redford "a terrible tragedy" that's
prompted a welcome examination of the use of military ground troops in the
drug war.

McCaffrey, who's travelling across the country to promote President
Clinton's $17.1 billion anti-narcotics strategy, was in San Antonio to
deliver a commencement address at St. Mary's University School of Law.

The strategy focuses on education and prevention programs, in addition to
bolstering law enforcement along the Texas-Mexico border.

Under the plan, the president is seeking $163 million to hire 1,000 new
U.S. Border Patrol agents and $41 million for X-ray equipment and other
technology that's been installed or planned for ports in Texas and other
border states.

The equipment installed at Laredo has been credited with this week's
discovery of a shipment of more than 2 tons of cocaine hidden in secret
compartments of a tractor-trailer rig.

Republican leaders in Congress have criticized the plan as lacking
aggressiveness and focussing more on education than enforcement.

McCaffrey said he believes the Clinton plan has bipartisan support in
Congress, citing approval of the president's past budget proposals for the
anti-drug effort.

"Law enforcement and prisons are being used to prevent (illegal) behavior,
but in the long run, drug prevention programs are the ones that work," he
said.

Pointing to increased cooperation between the United States and Mexico
during the past three years, McCaffrey said he believes there's merit to
the argument by Mexico officials that the demand for drugs here is a key
problem.

"Our own data shows Americans spent $57 billion on illegal drugs last
year," he said. "That is down one-third in the past 15 years.

"Our problem is we have too much money that is fueling criminal activity on
both sides of the border. "That is just another argument for working in a
partnership with Mexico. Money and guns out of the U.S. are the lubricants
of corruption on all sides of the border."

McCaffrey said great strides have been completed in the cooperative effort
between the two countries during the past three years -- a time when Mexico
has been undergoing political and economic turmoil. "Mexico is going
through revolutionary changes, and our argument is that we need to work
with them in a respectful, cooperative manner," he said.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski