Pubdate: Fri, 16 Mar 2001
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2001 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260
Fax: (713) 220-3575
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author: Michael Riley

MEXICO DRUG SEIZURES CLIMB

Traffickers Being Extradited To U.S. For Trial, AG Says

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's attorney general, in an attempt to show dramatic 
progress in the war on drugs in the first days of President Vicente Fox's 
term, announced Thursday that narcotics seizures have increased substantially.

Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said a number of Mexican 
traffickers are being sent to the United States for trial and that Mexico's 
powerful drug cartels are finally feeling the heat.

Cocaine seizures alone have nearly doubled during the first 100 days of 
Fox's administration in comparison with that of his predecessor, President 
Ernesto Zedillo, said Macedo.

In addition, more than 100 officials from Mexico's justice department have 
been fired for allegations stemming from corruption, said Macedo, a former 
army general.

"We will disregard no effort" in the fight against Mexico's drug cartels, 
said Macedo. "I share with all of you your anxiety that security and 
justice return."

Analysts outside the government, however, suggested that the attorney 
general's report should be viewed with caution.

"It's only after a sustained period of two to three years of big gains that 
Fox can claim progress," said Jorge Chabat, an expert on U.S.-Mexico 
relations here.

Macedo released an evaluation of his department's progress during Fox's 
first 100 days, a benchmark that Fox has said the public should use to 
judge his administration's job performance.

Since entering office on Dec. 1, Fox has outlined a far-reaching agenda, 
including everything from a crusade against corruption to a campaign to 
save the country's water resources and forests.

But Fox's pledge to battle Mexico's large drug-trafficking organizations, 
which account for more than two-thirds of the cocaine smuggled into the 
United States, has won the most praise from Washington.

During his visit to Mexico in February, President Bush said he trusted Fox 
to fight the traffickers. Officials of U.S. law enforcement agencies have 
credited Fox with raising to a higher level the cooperation in the fight 
against the cartels.

The first three months of Fox's administration have included several 
embarrassing situations. One of the country's most notorious drug 
traffickers, Joaquin Guzman, virtually walked out of a high-security prison 
in Guadalajara in January.

Fox fired most of the federal prosecutors in the border state of Chihuahua 
after uncovering a corruption scandal involving the selling of jobs in the 
prosecutor's office for as much as $500,000 each.

But the administration's supporters said that even those incidents show 
progress. Guzman supposedly escaped because he was about to be transferred 
to a more secure prison cell. In the wake of the escape, the attorney 
general charged 73 prison officials and guards with aiding the drug lord's 
escape.

Macedo said progress had been made in nearly all categories of drug 
seizures. Marijuana seizures, for instance, increased 116 percent in 
comparison with the first 100 days of Zedillo's administration. Heroin 
seizures climbed more than 500 percent, and seizures of mind-altering drugs 
went up 40 percent.

After Mexico's Supreme Court ruled in January that the government could 
extradite its citizens across international boundaries for trial, Macedo 
said that 25 Mexicans are now undergoing extradition proceedings, many to 
face charges in the United States.

Chabat, the independent analyst, said that while Fox has shown he's more 
willing than his predecessors to confront the drug cartels, the president 
still must draw upon the same police force that has built a reputation for 
corruption and inefficiency.

"You can't just go to the U.S. and buy 500 good police officers," Chabat said.

"Fox basically has the same corrupt policemen, the same judicial system, 
the same institutional problems" of past Mexican presidents, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart