Plan would allow U.S. agents patrol for drugs in Costa Rica

BY ERIC NUNEZ
Associated Press Writer

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) The United States and Costa Rica have drafted
a plan to let U.S. agents patrol Costa Rican territory with ships and
airplanes to target drug smugglers, the government said Tuesday.

U.S. ships would patrol both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of Costa Rica
and American planes would fly through its airspace, Public Security
Minister Laura Chinchilla said.

It was unclear what kind of U.S. agents would participate in the
operations. Chinchilla said only that they would be law enforcement
officials.

She said U.S. forces would be allowed to chase and search boats and
airplanes suspected of smuggling drugs. Costa Rican observers would be
aboard every boat to authorize specific operations and ``maintain respect
for national sovereignty,'' she said.

``It is impossible to confront drug smugglers in an isolated way,''
Chinchilla told The Associated Press. ``We have poor resources to do this
job on our own.''

She said the plan was discussed last week during a meeting in Washington
between Costa Rican officials, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and U.S.
drug(< )>czar<< >>Barry<< >>McCaffrey<<. Efforts to confirm the plan with
the State Department in Washington on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Costa Rica's attorney general is studying the draft, which would need
approval by the legislature, Chinchilla said.

Panama and Guatemala have similar agreements with the United States.

Smugglers from South America have begun using Costa Rica in recent years as
a transporting and warehousing station for drugs on their way to the U.S.
market.

Costa Rica has been alarmed by the practice ``to the point that our
sovereignty has become vulnerable,'' Chinchilla said.

This year, Costa Rica has seized 7,580 pounds of cocaine double what it
seized in all of 1996. Last week, authorities in northern Limon province
made the biggest bust of the year more than 1,400 pounds of cocaine.