Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2001
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2001 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Todd Bensman

N. TEXAS DRUG ROLE EXPANDS

Report: Railways Are Newest Threat

North Texas has become a major distribution hub for illegal drugs, thanks 
to the area's central geographic location and easy access provided by 
freeways, airports and railroads, a new federal report says. The drug 
"threat assessment report" by the North Texas High Intensity Drug 
Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, found that one new concern to some federal and 
local law enforcement agencies is the many freight and passenger railways 
that connect Mexico with Texas.

Law enforcement authorities say the trains run through the Dallas-Fort 
Worth area virtually unchecked. The report also identified Amtrak's plans 
for a Dallas-to-New York route next year as an example of the opportunity 
for drug traffickers.

"It's a challenge that I think we're probably not being successful with, 
given the magnitude of the problem," said John Brown, Dallas special agent 
in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Drug dealers are very 
dynamic, and they use any means they can. So if Amtrak has a route from a 
good transportation hub like Dallas to anyplace in the Northeast, they'll 
jump on the opportunity."

Officials with Amtrak and other railroads said they were surprised at the 
report's finding. They said that trains are an inconvenient method of 
smuggling and that railroad police control the situation. HIDTA is one of 
33 multiagency drug task forces that Congress set up across the country to 
fight the drug war. The report was produced for internal use by its 38 
member law enforcement agencies.

The report is the second since the North Texas HIDTA was funded by Congress 
in 1999 and, building on last year's survey, is considered the most 
comprehensive statement yet about the region's drug problems. In addition 
to identifying the threat of smuggling along the rails, the report's 
findings include:   The drug that most threatens the public welfare in 
North Texas is methamphetamine, an easily manufactured synthetic stimulant 
similar to cocaine but cheaper. More than half of the 60 North Texas 
agencies that contributed to HIDTA's study noted increases in 
methamphetamine production in home labs or consumer use. Many rural police 
departments reported their first discoveries of home labs that produce the 
drug for local consumption. Demand for the drug rose dramatically in 2000, 
reflected by street prices and falling purity.

Tractor-trailer rigs and personal motor vehicles remained the primary 
transportation used by drug traffickers. They moved increased quantities of 
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico through Dallas 
to supply the Midwest and Northeast along interstates 30, 35, 45 and 
20.   Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field, with 
increasing freight and passenger services, also served smugglers in 2000. 
Dealers also exploited North Texas' booming population and shifting ethnic 
demographics by selling drugs locally.

The illegal drug "khat" made a significant appearance in the Dallas-Fort 
Worth area during 2000. The drug is a leafy vegetable-type stimulant chewed 
for centuries by people who live in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian 
Peninsula, especially Ethiopians and Somalis. More than 600 pounds of the 
leaf was seized in Dallas over a 33-day period early this year after being 
shipped to D/FW Airport from Africa in mislabeled boxes.   Cocaine in all 
of its forms and Mexican black tar heroin remained plentiful in North 
Texas, but use of the drugs did not increase significantly in 2000, 
according to DEA case initiations, seizures and other indicators. Johnson 
and Tarrant counties reported some increases in treatment admissions.

Mexican drug cartels, with help from Colombian organizations, dominated the 
local drug trade, controlling the local distribution of marijuana, cocaine, 
heroin and methamphetamine. In all, 57 Mexican organizations were 
identified as having a presence in the area or smuggling through it. Gangs 
from Eastern Europe and Asia did a robust business in "club drugs," such as 
ecstasy. Limited resources Dave Israelson, director of the North Texas 
HIDTA, said rail smuggling is much less common than smuggling by trailer 
trucks or personal motor vehicles. Texas has the nation's highest volume of 
truck traffic, with about 3,500 tractor-trailers now crossing the border 
daily from Laredo. Mr. Israelson and other federal law enforcement 
officials in North Texas say the report underscores the need for strategies 
that can be effective with available but limited resources. The North Texas 
HIDTA strategies are confidential, Mr. Israelson said.

The report, in addressing the railroad smuggling threat, identified 
Amtrak's plans to create a Dallas-to-New York route next year as an example 
of expanding opportunity for drug traffickers and diminishing law 
enforcement ability to address the problem. Authorities seized more than 
7.5 kilos of cocaine from Amtrak passengers last year, as well as 150 kilos 
of marijuana.

The Mexican government also is privatizing its railroads and rail trade 
through Texas under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, federal 
officials in Dallas said.

Marijuana shipments have traditionally been found on the rails, but the 
Mexican military last year began finding large amounts of cocaine, 
including 2,300 pounds in April and May, the report said. Continued 
vigilance Wayne Frandsen, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Customs 
Service in Dallas, said his agency has neither the resources nor technology 
to police increasing freight and passenger train traffic from Mexico. The 
trains carry goods from as far away as South and Central America. The 
agency's border posts recently acquired some X-ray technology capable of 
monitoring some freight, but experts say the few machines can make only a 
token impact.

A representative of Texas Mexican Railways said the machines installed in 
April 2000 work well and supplement aggressive physical checks by railroad 
police on both sides of the border.

Kevin Johnson, spokesman for Amtrak, said demand for the Northeast route 
"overwhelms the sensible consideration of increased opportunities for 
illegal drug activity."

"With any service expansion, Amtrak will continue to be vigilant and 
diligent in its efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs at our facilities 
or our trains," he said.

"It's coming as kind of a shock to me," said Bill Galligan, a spokesman for 
Kansas City Southern Railroad, which partners with Mexican railroads. "I 
know of absolutely no problems with the trains being closely scrutinized in 
terms of U.S. Customs in our experience with Mexico trade. Trains are not 
the best way to move drugs because they're confined. There's no way the 
smuggler can control what's going on."
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