Pubdate: Fri, 09 Nov 2001
Source: Virginian-Pilot (VA)
Copyright: 2001, The Virginian-Pilot
Contact:  http://www.pilotonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/483
Author: Tim McGlone

ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORTS MEAN CHANGES FOR DEA, CHIEF SAYS

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Drug enforcement agents have pulled out of Afghanistan 
border towns, losing ground in the central Asia drug war for the new fight 
against terrorism.

``We had to leave,'' said Asa Hutchinson, the new head of the federal Drug 
Enforcement Administration.

The problem, he said, is indicative of drug and law enforcement efforts 
worldwide as agents in most federal agencies have been reassigned to 
counterterrorism duties since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hutchinson told law students Thursday at Pat Robertson's Regent University 
that despite the shift, drug enforcement efforts continue to have 
successes, such as the recent extradition of the No. 2 man in a Colombian 
drug cartel.

``People ask me, `What in the world has this impact of terrorism, the Sept. 
11 event, going to have on the DEA?' Well, it's going to have some,'' he said.

It's unclear how the change has affected drug investigations in Hampton 
Roads, where the DEA has an office and undercover agents in Norfolk. 
Hutchinson did not address local efforts, and local agents could not be 
reached Thursday afternoon to respond to their boss's comments.

However, local agents recently broke up an Ecstasy lab in Chesapeake, 
arresting two people.

Hutchinson said the DEA's mission has shifted to helping the FBI ``target 
the right people and prevent future attacks down the line.'' With the move, 
agents have targeted the drug traffickers who work with terrorists, sharing 
their bases, resources and money, he said.

In Afghanistan, which produces 70 percent of the world's opium, the key 
ingredient in making heroin, drug farmers are based around the terrorist 
camps of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network, Hutchinson said. He said 
the Taliban are believed to receive ``taxes'' from the opium trade as well. 
Most of the opium is sold in Europe, but some makes its way to the United 
States.

Hutchinson said earlier this week that the FBI has diverted agents from 
narcotics cases for counterterrorism duties, which has further caused his 
agency to be stretched thin. He said it's possible the FBI may withdraw 
permanently from the drug war to fight terrorism.

Hutchinson, 50, was tapped earlier this year by President Bush to head the 
DEA, the nation's primary narcotics enforcement agency. A former Republican 
congressman from Arkansas, Hutchinson was one of the House managers at 
former President Clinton's 1999 impeachment trial before the Senate.

When House leaders asked him to head the case, he thought the move would be 
political suicide. His hometown newspaper ran an editorial cartoon showing 
Hutchinson stabbing Arkansas in the back.

In the end, he said, the citizens and the Democrats must have understood 
his role in the impeachment trial because no one ran against him in the 
next election.

Hutchinson is a graduate of Bob Jones University, a controversial South 
Carolina school that banned interracial dating until recently. He and other 
legislators have taken heat for speaking there and receiving honorary degrees.

During his hourlong speech Thursday in the moot courtroom at Regent 
University's Robertson Hall, Hutchinson sprinkled in references to God and 
Christ and quoted Scripture.

``Scripture says: God's habitation is justice and justice is the habitation 
of his throne. He lives and he breathes justice,'' Hutchinson said.

``If we can be servants of justice in our lives, then is that not truly 
being in the environment of God?'' he asked the young crowd of about 200.

Following his talk, students asked questions. One asked if Hutchinson 
agreed with Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision that drugs supplied 
by the federal government can no longer be used to assist suicide. 
Hutchinson called it ``the right position.''

Another student asked why the DEA won't support the legalization of 
marijuana, ``a victimless drug.''

Hutchinson said there are many victims of marijuana use, including the user 
who exposes himself to carcinogens and does not become a productive 
citizen. He also said marijuana users can become child abusers, but did not 
cite any data supporting the claim.
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