DESPITE RHETORIC, U.S. STILL BLIND TO TERRORISM OF DRUG LORDS

Like other multibillion-dollar businesses that play an integral role in
American life, the illegal drug trade was disrupted after Sept. 11.

As security increased at airports and on the border, federal law
enforcement and knowledgeable street sources say, cocaine and heroin
shipments into the United States nearly ceased. Drug seizures at the
California-Mexico border near San Diego temporarily dropped to the lowest
levels in years.

Tons of product still made the trip from Colombia and rural Mexico into
Baja Norte and Tijuana, a region and city where the laws are written in
blood by the vicious Arellano Felix drug cartel. The organization
(sometimes called the AFO) thinks nothing of murdering police, judges,
prosecutors and journalists who get in its way.

But a strange thing happened on the street. Prices didn't skyrocket despite
the shipping slowdown. In fact, sources in Los Angeles and Las Vegas say
cocaine and heroin prices barely moved at all. It meant only one thing:
Supply was meeting demand.

By November, the AFO cartel was rolling again. Federal authorities reported
record drug seizures, but those busts didn't effect prices, either.

If the flow of hard drugs can't be consistently interdicted at a time of
unprecedented security, it makes some skeptics wonder how authorities ever
will be able to stop terrorists from entering the United States. Truth is,
this is a big country. The potential for new drug trade routes across the
border is almost immeasurable.

"What it indicates to me is there's so much of it down there," says San
Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Bill Gore, a 31-year veteran. "They know
how much they need on the other side, so they just ship that much more
knowing there will be more drugs seized. If we were really interdicting it,
we would see an increase in price, and we're just not seeing that yet."

When it comes to narcotics trafficking, Las Vegas is a suburb of Tijuana.
Sources with knowledge of the local drug trade concur with Gore's
assessment. Give or take a trunkload, it's business as usual.

Strange as it might seem, there's an upside. A pinched supply drives up
prices, which historically has increased property crimes, robberies and
drug-related murders. That's one of a million ironies of America's
beleaguered drug war. Plentiful supply means less stress on demand.

Here's another: In the post-Sept. 11 world, in which the president has
vowed to fight terrorism across the planet, one of the most violent
unofficial terrorist organizations operates right under our coked-up noses.

The notorious Felix brothers and their drug mafia don't wear turbans, but
they revel in the blood of police, public officials and reporters. They
have corrupted the Mexican government and have undermined the people of the
United States for decades.

They didn't kill 3,000 on a single day, but think of the scores of lives
they've ruined. Sure, there wouldn't be murderous international drug
cartels if there weren't drug laws and legions of users. The AFO would be
forced to go corporate and sell stock if cocaine use suddenly were legalized.

Strict bureaucratic definitions aside, are the AFO's actions not the work
of a terrorist organization?

"The Arellanos have succeeded in Mexico, to a certain extent, through
domestic terrorism," Gore says. "They have terrorized the people with the
public execution of judges and police officers. Not only execution, but
torture and execution. They're still in control. That's not to say there
haven't been inroads ... but the brothers are still in control.

"They've intimidated an entire population."

Earlier this year, Mexico President Vicente Fox vowed to reclaim Tijuana
from the Arellano Felix outfit and encouraged the participation of U.S. law
enforcement. Those are words that men such as Bill Gore have longed to hear.

More than the flow of drugs is at stake. At some point, the AFO's
corruptive influence endangers America's national security.

Terrorism is where you find it.

It's time Americans opened their eyes to the terrorism in our own back yard.