EL PASO, Texas (Reuter) U.S. antinarcotics officials said Wednesday they
would turn to the military for new hightech equipment in their campaign to
stop illegal drugs coming in across the border with Mexico.

Senior Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Border Patrol chiefs
met in the Texas city of El Paso Wednesday and vowed to increase border
surveillance with the help of the most advanced technology.

``We're going to tap into the Department of Defense and borrow
nightvision devices and radar from the military,'' said Dennis Usrey,
chairman of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a group formed in 1990
to fight the border drug trade.

``We're going to work smarter, not harder,'' he said, but he did not give
further details on exactly what type of new equipment would be deployed.

Federal agents estimate that some $50 billion worth of illegal drugs is
moved into the United States across the Mexican border each year.