DRUG CZAR WANTS TO STAY THE COURSE WITH PLAN COLOMBIA DESPITE LACKLUSTER
RESULTS

SANTA MARTA, Colombia - After flying over blackened coca fields, White
House drug czar John Walters conceded that seizing cocaine, destroying
coca crops and locking up drug traffickers in Colombia have had little
impact on the flow of cocaine on American streets.

But in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Walters
nevertheless insisted that Washington must stay the course with
so-called Plan Colombia, a $3.3 billion, five-year program mainly to
train, equip and provide intelligence to Colombian forces spearheading
the war on drugs.

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"We have a history in the United States of not following through on
programs like this," Walters said at an anti-narcotics police base
near this coastal city after touring fumigated fields in the nearby
mountains by helicopter.

The U.S.-funded Plan Colombia has led to a huge increase in drug
seizures, with 48 tons of cocaine confiscated in Colombia last year
compared to just 8 tons in 1999. Closer judicial cooperation between
the two countries has allowed for 120 alleged drug traffickers to be
extradited to the United States for trial in two years.

But aerial eradication, a key part of the aid package in which crop
dusters fly over fields of coca - the raw ingredient in cocaine - and
spray them with herbicides, has drawn sharp criticism, despite its
success in reducing the area under cultivation.

The amount of cultivated coca crops across the country fell to 280,000
acres last year, from 420,000 acres in 2001 - a 33 percent drop,
officials say.

Peasants in the sprayed zones complain of health problems and rights
groups say the herbicides kill banana and yucca plants. The U.S. and
Colombian governments insist the spraying is safe.

Still, Walters said Washington plans to re-examine the long-term
fumigation strategy.

One concern is whether it's cost-effective. Colombia's
counternarcotics police say 85 percent of sprayed crops are quickly
replanted by farmers, meaning spray planes must repeatedly fly over
the same zones.

Coca farmers have begun sowing in environmentally sensitive national
parks, where the aircraft are prohibited from fumigating, covering the
plants with protective chemicals or planting many small areas that are
difficult to spot.

Another problem is security. Though they are escorted by helicopter
gunships, the spray planes are hit by small arms fire about 26 times a
month, according to a report from the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Two U.S. State Department-contracted pilots involved in eradication
missions have been killed since 2000, and another three are being held
by rebels. Last year, two planes were forced to land after being shot,
and the State Department has since delayed seeking funds for new aircraft.

Walters said he believes fumigation remains important and effective,
but that money could be used elsewhere.

"We need to make sure other areas are well-funded, such as
interdiction," he said, referring to the use of radars and spy planes
to track suspected drug smuggling flights. Nearly 30 planes have been
forced down or destroyed on the ground by the Colombian air force this
year.

Despite the progress here, cocaine prices on U.S. streets remain
unchanged, a sign there is no shortage of the drug.

"Thus far we have not seen a change of availability in the United
States," Walters said.

He contends drug traffickers still have tons of cocaine stored along
transport routes and draw upon this stock to keep prices low