MEXICO: US DRUG CZAR CONCERNED OF POTENTIAL LINKS BETWEEN MEXICAN DRUG
CARTELS, TERRORISTS

U.S. drug czar Asa Hutchinson said on Thursday that the George W. Bush
administration is concerned that Mexican drug money could end up financing
terrorist activities, Reforma daily reported.

The head of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) said there is a possibility
that terrorist groups would ally themselves with organized crime groups in
Mexico, as has been the case in Colombia.

"Mexican drug traffickers have been the base of drug mobilization in
Colombia and the U.S., and...three terrorist organizations in Colombia
receive financing from narcotrafficking," Hutchinson was quoted by the daily.

"We are watching very carefully and understand that there is a danger that
this connection could become a growing problem," Hutchinson, the head of
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), added.

At the same time, Hutchinson praised the work and cooperation of President
Vicente Fox in cracking down on drug cartels.

Earlier this year, the Mexican government dealt a heavy blow to the
nation's most powerful drug cartel, run by the Arellano Felix brothers.
Authorities gunned down the cartel's enforcer, Ramon Arellano Felix, and
arrested his brother, Benjamin, the group's operations chief.

Still, analysts have said that smaller organizations are likely to take the
place of the drug kingpins. Hutchinson said the U.S. government was aware
that the elimination of the two Arellano Felix brothers does not mean the
U.S.-led war on drugs would end.

"Even if we have had some success, there is so much money involved with the
drug trade that a new organization could appear at any moment," he said.