DRUGS LORDS KILL "HUNDREDS" OF MEXICAN COPS U.S.
Copyright (c) 1997, Reuters, Limited

Drug traffickers have murdered "hundreds" of honest
Mexican lawenforcement offials in the past year, U.S. drug
policy coordinator Barry McCaffrey said on Tuesday.

"Hundreds of honest police officers and prosecutors and
judges have been murdered in the last year struggling to
protect Mexican democracy," McCaffrey told the Mexican
television network Televisa from Miami.

McCaffrey is the White House representative who
coordinates the U.S. antidrug effort. An excerpt from the
interview was broadcast on Tuesday night on the 24 Hours
news programme.

International drug traffickers who move billions of
dollars worth of cocaine, marijuana and heroin through
Mexico each year are known to be violent, but officials
have been reluctant to quantify the number killed while
attempting to stem the tide.

McCaffrey also said drug traffickers spend $6 billion of
their profits each year to bribe Mexican officials and
grease the path for their illicit products.

"Violence and corruption are the two tools of
international crime, and in this case it's with $6 billion
of corruption money that comes from the United States,"
McCaffrey said. "So it's a terrible challenge to Mexico and
the United States to work together for the years to come."

U.S.Mexican relations in the war on drugs became
strained recently during the U.S. "certification" process
of determining whether Mexico is an aidworthy ally in
combatting the narcotics trade.

The Clinton administration, including McCaffrey, stood
by Mexican President President Ernesto Zedillo, calling him
an honest warrior even if many below him are corrupt.

The U.S. House and Representatives and Senate have taken
less friendly views, voting to partially overturn Clinton's
certification of Mexico.

Mexico has rejected the certification process as a
unilateral attempt to trample over Mexico's internal
affairs, while Mexican commentators have criticised the
United States for providing the world's most lucrative drug
market.