HEROIN IS SMUGGLERS' NEW DRUG OF CHOICE

MEXICO CITY -- The heroin trade is a growing concern along the porous
U.S.-Mexico border, where cocaine has been dominant.

In place of the relatively small volumes of heroin smuggled across the
border, traditionally in packets under 5 pounds, authorities say they are
discovering larger and larger shipments -- a trend that indicates that drug
smugglers are increasingly cocky about getting the highly priced heroin
past border points.

Mexican drug cartels already specializing in cocaine and marijuana are
extending into heroin trafficking.

A joint U.S.-Mexico investigation, recently disclosed, resulted in the
seizure of 782 pounds of heroin, a quantity that some officials believe
indicates Mexican traffickers are preparing to challenge Colombian gangs
who distribute on the U.S. East Coast.

"Seven hundred pounds of heroin is a lot of heroin," said a U.S. official
in Mexico who participated in Operation Landslide, as the U.S.-Mexico
investigation was dubbed.

Operation Landslide resulted in 42 arrests and broke up an alleged heroin
distribution ring that trafficked from the Mexican states of Michoacan and
Baja California to 37 U.S. cities, ranging from San Jose, Calif., to St.
Louis, Mo. The core distribution cells were in Los Angeles, San Francisco
and San Jose, Calif.

Operation Landslide began almost three years ago with a suspicious seizure
of more than 253 pounds of heroin at the southwest border with Mexico, an
extraordinarily high-volume bust. Over the course of the probe, there were
other big seizures -- 100 pounds of heroin in San Luis, Ariz.; 59 pounds in
Laredo, Texas; and 92 pounds in Del Rio, Texas.

"We've seized more. Does that mean more is coming across? Probably. But
what is clear is the loads are larger from Mexico and the traffickers are
pretty bold," said Dean Boyd, a spokesman at U.S. Customs Service
headquarters in Washington. He added, "These guys could be characterized as
very audacious."

The volumes are even more troubling in light of a similar action last year
called Operation Tar Pit. That operation, unveiled June 15, 2000, broke a
heroin ring in the state of Nayarit and documented that Mexican drug
organizations were stepping up heroin smuggling to new markets like
Detroit, where Colombians have traditionally dominated.