Pubdate: Wed, 08 Aug 2001
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2001 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact:  http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83
Author: Kris Axtman

NEW DRUG-WAR TACTIC: TRY MAKING FRIENDS

Warmer Relations Between US And Mexico Have Led To Antidrug Victories.

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO - Like many officials whose job it is to ply the 
hardscrabble lands of the US-Mexico border, Martin Cuellar Jr. knows a lot 
about the bumps on the road to cross-border cooperation.

But like other American officials, both along the border and in Washington, 
the south-Texas antinarcotics officer is seeing signs of a smoother ride ahead.

While years of highs and lows in cooperation lead to caution on both sides, 
some high-profile action in law enforcement over recent months is feeding 
optimism for long-term improvement.

The way Lieutenant Cuellar sees it, his success on the job rides on the 
strength of his relationships on the Mexican side. So he's made a habit of 
crossing the border to Laredo's twin city in Mexico. There, he might follow 
up on a tip from a captain in the federal highway patrol, or share 
confidential information with a state police officer. Or the visit might be 
more social - like lunch or a pistol-shooting competition with local law 
enforcement.

"To do my job as efficiently and as productively as possible, I have to be 
in close communication with Mexican police," says Cuellar, head of the 
Texas Department of Public Safety's narcotics unit here. "Now we have a 
clearer understanding of how they work, and it's making a difference. That 
is something we didn't have in the past."

The warmer relations, say many US officials, have happened largely because 
of newly elected Mexican President Vicente Fox, who broke 71 years of 
one-party rule. Since taking office in December, President Fox has declared 
war on corruption and drug trafficking, fired all but two district customs 
chiefs, and set up a new organized-crime unit.

"The Fox administration has come out very strongly against drug 
traffickers," says Joseph Keefe, the chief of operations for the Drug 
Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Washington. "And our relationship with 
upper management [in Mexican drug-fighting agencies] has been more open and 
more straightforward than ever before."

Mexico's new approach is highlighted by the recent bust of a major 
cocaine-smuggling operation based in Nuevo Laredo. For the past year and a 
half, the DEA has worked closely with a variety of law- enforcement 
agencies in Mexico and Colombia. Last month, agents arrested 83 people in 
16 US cities. They also identified 14 suspects in Mexico, and Mexican 
officials followed up with arrests. DEA agents say that the bust - called 
Operation Marquis, after the name of the cartel - was one of the largest of 
its kind in recent history.

In the past, when Mexican officials went after one drug cartel, it was 
often to protect others. But that seems to be changing, says Mr. Keefe. "To 
date, they seem to be going after all the organizations, instead of just 
one or two." In addition, the Mexican Supreme Court recently allowed the 
country to begin extraditing drug kingpins to the US. Since May, several 
key cartel leaders have been extradited to San Diego - the first such 
extraditions in Mexico's history.

But while experts agree that new attitudes and strategies in the top 
echelons of government are important, it takes local police to implement 
them - and that doesn't always happen easily after 71 years.

Take Carlos Ambia Reyes. In his few months as commander of the federal 
preventive police in Nuevo Laredo, he has actively policed the drug trade 
and make arrests, even within his own department. He has charged gotten rid 
of half of his staff, and several are charged with extortion.

Looking over his glasses, Commander Ambia calls the level of cooperation 
"excellent, the kind that really hasn't existed in the past."

But Ambia is the kind of paradoxical hero that US law enforcement routinely 
encounters. Last year, the federal preventive police accused him of 
extortion, and Mexico's National Commission of Human Rights accused him of 
human rights abuses in the state of Coahuila, where he served prior to his 
posting in Nuevo Laredo. To date, those accusations have not resulted in 
any formal action against him. But US officials say that situations like 
this are important reminders of the need to build relationships gradually 
and keep a certain amount of distance.

Still, US agents can't work too slowly. Mexican officials are transferred 
frequently in order to keep police from getting too close to the community 
and the drug lords who control much of it.

"It's hard because they change their people so regularly," says Alfonso 
Moreno III, head of the Border Patrol's intelligence unit in the Laredo 
sector. "Overall, they are always very willing to help. But you build a 
relationship with someone, and then they are replaced."

Yet the ties are getting stronger. In addition, US officials have noticed a 
willingness among Mexican law enforcement to take part in testing and training.

"They seem to be making an honest effort to improve their image, trying to 
emulate what we do on this side," says Jose Flores, the US attorney in 
Laredo. His office is prosecuting several "Operation Marquis" arrestees.

Still, he is cautious about the rhetoric, having heard it all before: "Only 
in the long run will we know the full effect."
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