Mexican Druglords Have Turned To Commercial Ventures To bring their goods
across the border.

Mexico City-The North American Free Trade Agreement has made it easier than
ever for Mexican traffickers to smuggle drugs, and American authorities
aren't doing enough to counter the fast-growing threat, a U.S. task force
has concluded.

Sophisticated drug gangs are investing in everything from trucking companies
and rail lines to warehouses and shipping firms to shield their trafficking
activities, according to a confidential report by Operation Alliance, a task
force led by the U.S. Customs Service.

Drug traffickers are using "commercial trade-related businesses...to exploit
the rising tide of cross-border commerce," said the 63-page report, "Drug
Trafficking, Commercial Trade and NAFTA on the Southwest Border.'

While many U.S. officials avoid even talking about potential free-trade ties
to trafficking, Mexican smugglers have been busy hiring consultants to learn
how to take advantage of NAFTA, some former drug agents say.

Authors of the report, nearly two years in the making, say they weren't out
to judge NAFTA, seeking instead to know if traffickers were exploiting legal
trade to further their illicit enterprises.

What they found is that drug gangs have learned they can get more done with
an MBA than an AK-47.

The report, marked "law-enforcement sensitive," says traffickers were so
gung-ho about free trade they began studying its intricacies even before
NAFTA was approved Jan. 1, 1994.

"If drug traffickers are researching NAFTA, it would be wise for more in the
law-enforcement community to do the same," it adds.

The free trade agreement is aimed at wiping out all tariffs among the United
States, Mexico and Canada by 2008. Its supporters say it has been a great
success, doubling trade between Mexico and the United States to $168
billion.

They dispute the suggestion that the trade agreement has boosted drug
trafficking.

"There's no question that drugs are continuing to go across the border. But
you can't pin the rap on NAFTA. That's a simplistic leap that some people
make," said a Senate source who requested anonymity.

Even before NAFTA, traffickers routinely hid drugs in commercial shipments.
But some former drug agents say free trade has given smugglers the upper
hand.

"If you believe NAFTA has not adversely affected the fight against drug
traffickers, then you must believe in the tooth fairy," said Tom Cash, a
former high-level DEA official.

The sheer volume of U.S.-bound cargo, some 400 million tons per year, makes
it harder to find contraband, he and others said.

Border inspectors are under intense pressure to speed the flow of people and
goods, he said, and can't always do thorough inspections.

Mexican traffickers are believed to smuggle an estimated 330 tons of
cocaine, 14 tons of heroin and hundreds of tons of marijuana into the United
States every year.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"