U.S. to use giant Xray devices in drug war

Hightech equipment heading for Mexico border

By NANCIE L. KATZ

Copyright 1997 Special to the Chronicle

WASHINGTON President Clinton's chief drug policy adviser
Tuesday announced plans to deploy hightechnology equipment
at ports of entry along the TexasMexico border to curb
narcotics smuggling from Mexico.

At a press conference to release a report to Congress on
U.S.Mexico antidrug cooperation, Gen. Barry McCaffrey
praised Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo's government for
making "significant progress" in the drug war, but said
corruption remained a serious impediment to joint efforts.

He also touted new law enforcement steps designed to make
smuggling more difficult. "We are going to build U.S.
unilateral capabilities to stop them (smugglers) at all 39
points of entry," McCaffrey said.

He pledged that eight giant Xray machines at a cost of
$3 million apiece would be set up along the U.S.Mexico
border by the end of the year, with five of the devices to
be installed at Texas ports of entry.

The devices, originally used for arms control verification,
are capable of scanning seven trucks per hour for drugs,
McCaffrey said.

The machines operate much like a car wash, according to
Bobby Cassidy of the U.S. Customs Service in San Diego. The
vehicle being scanned is pulled on a chain through the
large, twosided structure, whose walls are covered with
scanning devices.

By next September, the report said, the scanners should be
installed at crossing points in Pharr, Laredo and two in the
El Paso area. The plan also envisions an Xray at a new
entry point called Los Tomates near Brownsville by March
1999.

In addition to the five Texas sites, there will one at
Nogales, Ariz., and two mobile Xray units, according to
McCaffrey's report.

The document also listed several areas of extended co
operation between Mexican and U.S. law enforcement agencies.

McCaffrey said U.S. officials were training Mexican agents
who had clean security records.

"They are trying to pull through the needle the beginning of
these police units that will not be vulnerable to
corruption," he said.

Asked whether U.S. agents in Mexico could now be armed,
McCaffrey said the two countries' cooperative agreement
"takes into account security considerations . . . and we
think more and more agents on both sides of the border will
be protected."

The drug policy chief cited increased cooperation at sea, as
well, saying the Xray machines would drive traffickers to
the sea and air. Those ports would be the next on the high
technology list, he said.

He called on Congress to support placing the hightechnology
scans at all points of entry.

"This is the busiest open frontier on the face of the Earth.
How do we get to the drugs? We can't do it without
technology. You can't do it without mirrors, fiberoptics and
astute inspectors," McCaffrey said.

But he cautioned that technology alone would not stop the
flow as long as Americans continue spending some $49 billion
a year on illegal drugs. Such efforts are useless unless
some "68 million children between 10 and 15 are convinced
not to smoke pot, use alcohol or start smoking," he said.

Echoing such sentiments, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R
Texas, called on President Clinton to focus on the "demand
side of the problem" particularly regarding the education of
"young people on the consequences of drug abuse." She also
called for more attention regarding "manpower and stateof
theart equipment" at the borders.

McCaffrey said he believed Mexico was making "serious
efforts" to crack down on drug cartels, address corruption
and prevent the flow of narcotics to the United States. He
cited some 29.2 tons of cocaine seized by authorities there
over the past year.

"We have a serious, major effort to form a partnership
between the United States and Mexico going on," he said.
"They're sick of the violence and corruption as much as we
are."

Among major steps, he said, were Mexico's efforts against
corrupt police and government officials, passage of
legislation outlawing money laundering and commitments by
Zedillo and his attorney general to address government,
police and judicial corruption.

McCaffrey said joint efforts by the United States and Mexico
had weakened two major cartels, the Gulf and Juarez
organizations.

Nevertheless, he said creating an honest law enforcement and
judicial system in Mexico remained a "serious challenge."
McCaffrey said the country should receive support, rather
than be subject to a "confrontational and intrusive"
certification process.

Last spring, Congress threatened to overturn President
Clinton's decision to certify Mexico as an ally in the drug
war after numerous reports of corruption and the arrest of
Mexico's counternarcotics chief, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez
Rebollo, on charges of taking bribes from a powerful drug
cartel.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., one of two senators who
requested McCaffrey's report, called the findings "a mixed
bag" and "unduly optimistic." She said it justified the
certification process.

"Major problems remain . . . chief among them being
corruption among Mexico's law enforcement ranks," she said.
"While . . . I acknowledge President Zedillo's commitment to
this problem has produced some modest results, I strongly
caution against drawing sweeping conclusions from a handful
of positive indications.

"This report proves . . . that the drug certification
process is a valuable tool in the fight against drug
trafficking," she said. It puts "foreign governments like
Mexico . . . on notice that Congress is monitoring the level
of cooperation the United States receives in the drug war."