ACCESSION NUMBER:282252

FILE ID:LEF319

DATE:05/05/93

TITLE:MEXICO ONE OF THE SUCCESS STORIES IN WAR AGAINST DRUGS (05/05/93)

TEXT:*93050519.LEF  MEXOCP PMW PF SICCESS STPROES OM WAR VS DRUGS

*LEF319  05/05/93*



MEXICO ONE OF THE SUCCESS STORIES IN WAR AGAINST DRUGS

(Recent Mexican Counter-Narcotics Actions)  (510)

(Spanish coming)

By Greg Flakus

VOA Correspondent

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- The war against illegal narcotics has scored some

significant victories in Mexico in recent weeks, with the seizure of

several large shipments of cocaine and the killing by police of top drug

lord Emilio Quintero Payan in the Mexico City suburb of Ciudad Satelite

just last week.



Law enforcement analysts and drug experts agree that Mexico has become one

of the brightest success stories in the hemisphere-wide fight against drug

smuggling.  Mexican police have hounded drug kingpins and have worked to

root out official corruption.  A rapid response force established near the

U.S. border has seized 72 tons of cocaine since 1989, helped to some extent

by intelligence information provided by the United States.



But most of what Mexico has accomplished has been the result of Mexican

money and effort.  The United States has posted drug enforcement

administration agents in Mexico and has donated 15 million dollars to help

maintain some aircraft used for interdiction purposes near the border, but

Mexico has not ccepted direct U.S. aid.



Since Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari took office in 1988, he

has increased the budget for anti-narcotics activities seven-fold.  U.S.

drug enforcement agents praise the level of cooperation provided by Mexican

authorities to stop traffickers on both sides of the border.



Mexico has also paid a steep price for its war on drugs.  Hundreds of

policemen and soldiers have been killed by drug smugglers in mexico over

1he past 20 years.



Analysts also credit the no-nonsense approach taken by Mexican Attorney

General Jorge Carpizo, who assumed office in January.  Carpizo was

previously head of the National Commission on Human Rights and a frequent

critic of both Mexican police tactics and corruption.  He has removed some

police commanders and has prosecuted others in an effort to clean up the

forces deployed against the drug smugglers.



Sometimes, the Attorney General has had to set his sights high.  In

February, Mr. Carpizo indicted the former chief of Mexican anti-narcotics

operations, Guillermo Gonzalez-Calderoni, who was accused of corruption.

Gonzalez-Calderoni is still at large and believed to be living somewhere in

the southwestern U.S. state of Texas.  Mexican authorities seized millions

of dollars in property belonging to the fugitive in northern Mexico.  The

accusations against Mr. Gonzalez-Calderoni have saddened law enforcement

officials in both Mexico and the United States who credit him with having

established the northern region's rapid response system and with having

played a key role in the capture of narcotics gang leader Miguel Angel

Felix Gallardo and other important figures.



The corruption fed by the drug trade has taken a toll in Mexico as it has in

other parts of the hemisphere, including the United States, but U.S. law

enforcement officials say Mexico is on the right path to control both the

corruption and the drug trafficking.



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