ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS TAKE BACK SEAT THESE DAYS

The administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration says the war on
terrorism has drained resources from the long-standing war on drugs in the
Caribbean and diverted federal anti-drug agents to hunt down domestic
terrorists.

"We're trying to pick up the slack," DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson said
Tuesday.

Hutchinson said he's concerned that drug smugglers could exploit a vacuum
in the anti-drug campaign caused by the reassignment of Customs Service and
Coast Guard ships from the Caribbean to homeland defense duties. "We don't
want Miami and the Caribbean to go back to the 1980s," he said.

Hutchinson said he's also alarmed that the U.S.-led military campaign in
Afghanistan has resulted in the Taliban releasing stockpiles of opium on
the world's drug markets, which he fears will result in increased
availability of heroin this winter, particularly in Western Europe.

Since the U.S. bombing campaign began a month ago, "prices have dropped
along Afghanistan's borders," reflecting increased supplies of opium
released in the region, he said.

In the last five years Afghanistan has replaced Asia's Golden Triangle as
the lead exporter of opium, which is a significant source of revenues for
the Taliban regime. Most heroin used in the United States comes from
Central and Latin America, but Hutchinson said about 10 percent comes from
Southwest Asia, going mostly to the East Coast.

Some Caribbean surveillance activities are now being conducted by NATO
allies, which have sent surveillance planes from Europe to help monitor air
and ship movements along the East Coast.