Pubdate: Mon, 11 May 1998 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Contact: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Author: Tracey Eaton NAFTA TRADE GIVES BIG BOOST TO DRUG TRAFFICKERS, REPORT SAYS MEXICO CITY - The North American Free Trade Agreement has made it easier than ever for Mexican traffickers to smuggle drugs, and American authorities aren't doing enough to counter the fast-growing threat, a U.S. task force has concluded. Sophisticated drug gangs are investing in everything from trucking companies and rail lines to warehouses and shipping firms to shield their trafficking activities, according to a confidential report by Operation Alliance, a task force led by the U.S. Customs Service. Drug traffickers are using "commercial trade-related businesses . . . to exploit the rising tide of cross-border commerce," said the 63-page report, "Drug Trafficking, Commercial Trade and NAFTA on the Southwest Border." Although many U.S. officials avoid even talking about potential free-trade/trafficking ties, Mexican smugglers have been busy hiring consultants to learn how to take advantage of NAFTA, some former drug agents say. "For Mexico's drug gangs, the NAFTA was a deal made in narco-heaven," said Phil Jordan, a former high-level official with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). "But since both the United States and Mexico are so committed to free trade, no one wants to admit it has helped the drug lords. It's a taboo subject. "While I was at DEA, I was under strict orders not to say anything negative about free trade. Now it's come back to haunt us." Authors of the Operation Alliance report, nearly two years in the making, say they weren't out to judge NAFTA, they merely wanted to know if traffickers were exploiting rising U.S.-Mexico trade to further their illicit enterprises. What they found out is that Mexican drug gangs are more savvy than ever, having learned that they can often get more done with an MBA than an AK-47. The Operation Alliance report says traffickers were so gung-ho about free trade they began studying its intricacies even before NAFTA was approved on Jan. 1, 1994. And the report gently criticizes American authorities for not keeping pace. "If drug traffickers are researching NAFTA, it would be wise for more in the law-enforcement community to do the same," it says. The free-trade agreement is aimed at wiping out all tariffs among the United States, Mexico and Canada by 2008. Its supporters say it has been a great success, doubling to $168 billion trade between Mexico and the United States. They dispute the suggestion that the trade agreement has boosted drug trafficking. "There's no question that drugs are continuing to go across the border. But you can't pin the rap on NAFTA. That's a simplistic leap that some people make," said a Senate source who requested anonymity. Even before NAFTA, traffickers routinely hid drug loads in commercial shipments. But some former drug agents say free trade has given smugglers the upper hand. "If you believe NAFTA has not adversely affected the fight against drug traffickers, then you must believe in the tooth fairy," said Tom Cash, a former high-level DEA official. The sheer volume of U.S.-bound cargo, 400 million tons per year, makes it harder to find contraband, he and others say. "The Customs Service has tried to play down the idea that inspectors have less ability to stop drugs from coming across the border, but I think it's irrefutable," Cash said. Mexican traffickers are believed to smuggle an estimated 330 tons of cocaine, 14 tons of heroin and hundreds of tons of marijuana into the United States every year. Some American agents are particularly concerned about a rise in the use of railcars in trafficking. In 1997 alone, Customs inspectors seized more than 5,500 pounds of marijuana from railcars, almost double the amount for the previous nine years. "You'll see railroad cars loaded with freight containers coming across the border, and some of the trains will have 100 or more cars, double-stacked," said Richard Gorman, special agent in charge of the DEA office in Phoenix. "If you were to try to inspect all that, you'd have trains backed up all the way to the Guatemalan border." Since NAFTA's approval, Customs has added inspectors, agents, drug-sniffing dogs and intelligence analysts to cope with the flood of people and cargo entering the U.S. And the agency has had some successes. One of the most recent was the seizure of 1,743 pounds of cocaine last week from a flatbed truck entering Nogales, Ariz., from Mexico. The cocaine was cleverly hidden inside two large diesel engines. "Smugglers' techniques have become extremely sophisticated," said Celia de la Ossa, the chief inspector in Nogales. And with or without free trade, she said, agents will continue fighting the drug gangs. "NAFTA has reduced tariffs, but it has done nothing to eliminate Customs inspections," she said. - --- Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"