U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

72–582 DTP WASHINGTON : 2001

BLACK-TAR HEROIN, METH AND COCAINE CONTINUE TO FLOOD THE UNITED STATES FROM

MEXICO

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE,

DRUG POLICY, AND HUMAN RESOURCES

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENT REFORM

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JUNE 30, 2000

Serial No. 106–228

Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house

http://www.house.gov/reform

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250

Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001

(II)

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM

DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman

BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York

CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland

CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York

STEPHEN HORN, California

JOHN L. MICA, Florida

THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia

DAVID M. MCINTOSH, Indiana

MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana

JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida

STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio

MARSHALL ‘‘MARK’’ SANFORD, South

Carolina

BOB BARR, Georgia

DAN MILLER, Florida

ASA HUTCHINSON, Arkansas

LEE TERRY, Nebraska

JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois

GREG WALDEN, Oregon

DOUG OSE, California

PAUL RYAN, Wisconsin

HELEN CHENOWETH-HAGE, Idaho

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California

TOM LANTOS, California

ROBERT E. WISE, JR., West Virginia

MAJOR R. OWENS, New York

EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York

PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania

PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington,

DC

CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland

DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio

ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois

DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois

JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts

JIM TURNER, Texas

THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine

HAROLD E. FORD, JR., Tennessee

JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois

———

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont

(Independent)

KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director

DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director

DAVID A. KASS, Deputy Counsel and Parliamentarian

ROBERT A. BRIGGS, Clerk

PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, DRUG POLICY, AND HUMAN RESOURCES

JOHN L. MICA, Florida, Chairman

BOB BARR, Georgia

BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York

CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida

MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana

STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio

ASA HUTCHINSON, Arkansas

DOUG OSE, California

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana

PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii

EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland

DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio

ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois

JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts

JIM TURNER, Texas

JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois

EX OFFICIO

DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California

SHARON PINKERTON, Staff Director and Chief Counsel

CARSON NIGHTWINE, Professional Staff Member

RYAN MCKEE, Clerk

SARAH DESPRES, Minority Counsel

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C O N T E N T S

Page

Hearing held on June 30, 2000 ............................................................................... 1

Statement of:

Brooks, Chief Fabienne, criminal investigations division, King County

Sheriff’s Department, Seattle, WA; and Mario Medina, family victim,

Chimayo, NM ................................................................................................ 63

Furgeson, Judge W. Royal, Jr., U.S. District Court, Western District

of Texas; Joseph D. Keefe, Special Agent in Charge, Special Operations

Division, Drug Enforcement Administration; Ed Logan, Special Agent

in Charge, San Diego, U.S. Customs Service; and Luis E. Barker,

Chief Border Patrol Agent, El Paso Sector, U.S. Border Patrol, INS ....... 12

Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:

Barker, Luis E., Chief Border Patrol Agent, El Paso Sector, U.S. Border

Patrol, INS, prepared statement of ............................................................. 44

Brooks, Chief Fabienne, criminal investigations division, King County

Sheriff’s Department, Seattle, WA, prepared statement of ....................... 66

Furgeson, Judge W. Royal, Jr., U.S. District Court, Western District

of Texas, prepared statement of .................................................................. 14

Keefe, Joseph D., Special Agent in Charge, Special Operations Division,

Drug Enforcement Administration, prepared statement of ....................... 24

Logan, Ed, Special Agent in Charge, San Diego, U.S. Customs Service,

prepared statement of ................................................................................... 33

Medina, Mario, family victim, Chimayo, NM, prepared statement of ......... 79

Mica, Hon. John L., a Representative in Congress from the State of

Florida, prepared statement of .................................................................... 7

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BLACK-TAR HEROIN, METH AND COCAINE

CONTINUE TO FLOOD THE UNITED STATES

FROM MEXICO

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2000

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, DRUG POLICY,

AND HUMAN RESOURCES,

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM,

Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:38 a.m., in room

2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John L. Mica (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Mica and Kucinich.

Staff present: Sharon Pinkerton, staff director and chief counsel;

Charley Diaz, congressional fellow; Carson Nightwine, professional

staff member; Ryan McKee, clerk; Jason Snyder and Lauren Perny,

interns; Sarah Despres, minority counsel; and Early Green, assistant minority clerk.

Mr. MICA. Good morning. I would like to welcome you to this

morning’s hearing of the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and

Human Resources Subcommittee.

We are going to go ahead and begin. I know Members had a very

long night. It was close to 2 a.m. Other Members have indicated

they are coming, but because the session has been finished and the

recess begun I am going to go ahead and start the hearing with the

witnesses and hopefully be joined by some of the Members, who

have had very little sleep but do plan to be with us.

The order of business first is opening statements—I will start

with mine and will yield to others, and we will leave the record

open for a period of 2 weeks for additional comments, materials, or

information to be submitted for the record. Without objection, so ordered.

This morning’s hearing focuses on black-tar heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and the deluge of illegal narcotics that continue to

flood across our southern borders into the United States from Mexico.

Despite Congress’ effort, international drug trafficking remains a

growing threat to our national security. Unfortunately, Mexico’s

role as a drug gateway to the United States continues to dramatically expand.

As Ambassador Davidow, our United States Ambassador to Mexico, recently said, ‘‘The fact is the headquarters of drug trafficking

is in Mexico.’’ I think that comment, which was somewhat conVerDate 11-MAY-2000 12:03 Jun 13, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\72582.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1
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troversial, but, nonetheless, very candid and accurate, speaks for

the situation we find ourselves in today. Mexico is the headquarters of drug trafficking.

Today, no country in the world possesses a more immediate drug

threat to the United States than Mexico. More than 60 percent of

the cocaine on America’s streets transit through our border with

Mexico. Our Drug Enforcement Agency reports that Mexican blacktar and other heroin seizures skyrocketed by more than 20 percent

in just 1 year, an outstanding increase that is just absolutely remarkable that in 1 year we would have a 20 percent increase.

The volume of methamphetamine, narcotics, and precursor

chemicals from Mexico has also exploded, causing chaos and crime

from rural America to urban centers, and I can testify to that. We

have held hearings practically from sea to shining sea—California,

Louisiana, Texas. I just came back. In the heartland of America,

where three of our States meet—South Dakota, Iowa, the heartland

of America, Nebraska—in Sioux City, IA, Monday morning we held

a hearing with absolutely incredible testimony that

methamphetamines are at epidemic levels and that rural America—again, the heartland of America—mostly the methamphetamine, the actual hard drug and those dealing in it, were Mexican

drug lords and criminals involved in this activity, including many

illegal aliens who have crossed our borders involved in this trafficking and death.

We heard stories in California that absolutely chill your spine of

dozens and dozens, hundreds of families devastated by methamphetamine, and the testimony we heard of one particular case

of child abuse, where both the parents on methamphetamine had

tortured the child and then finished it off by boiling it to death, as

the ravage of what we are seeing from this methamphetamine, and

most of it is coming across our borders from Mexico. Again, we are

hearing it over and over as we do our national field hearings and

hearings here in Washington.

Sadly, also our Mexican-United States border has become the

stage for violence, as well as drug trafficking. Mexican crime organizations use illegal immigrants and migrant workers to smuggle

heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other illegal narcotics, disrupting ranches and communities along the border, and, as I said,

even into the heartland of our Nation.

Mexican drug lords are so emboldened they have even offered

bounties for United States agents.

The National Drug Intelligence Center’s threat assessment reports that the average size of Mexican heroin shipments is increasing and that South American heroin traffickers are increasingly

smuggling Colombian heroin into the United States through Mexico. It is not bad enough that they have increased production some

20 percent in 1 year, and that is evidenced by the seizures that

leaped that period, but also heroin that is now being grown in Colombia, produced in Colombia, is transiting at unprecedented quantities through Mexico, finding its way to our streets and communities.

Again, these drugs end up in our schools, in our businesses, and

homes throughout the country, giving us a problem of unbelievable

magnitude.

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While Congress has poured substantial moneys into the southwest border initiatives to combat heroin trafficking, in 1 year seizures of heroin in this area increased from 52 events and 103.8

kilograms seized in 1997 to 80 events and 145.9 kilograms in 1998.

The surge of high, pure, and cheap heroin is now threatening a

growing number of people in the United States, and particularly we

found and most alarmingly we found it is the young people of this

country that are becoming the victims.

The University of Michigan has reported that the use of heroin

by 12 to 17-year-olds has doubled over the last 7 years. That same

study indicated that 83,160 eighth graders—eighth graders, mind

you—have tried heroin.

The most recent estimate of the domestic hard-core heroin addict

population in the United States is 980,000 people, and we have

communities where we conducted hearings, like Baltimore, that

now have somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000 heroin and

drug addicts, according to one of the city councilwomen there. The

number is one in eight individuals in Baltimore is a narcotics addict. Of course, we found that some of that is due to their liberal

policy. We held a hearing there on, I think, Monday. On Thursday,

thank God, the mayor fired the police chief who testified before us

in a lackadaisical attitude toward enforcement, and Mayor

O’Malley hopefully is going to help, and I am pledged to work with

the minority, particularly Mr. Cummings from Baltimore, to turn

that community around.

Since the early 1990’s, heroin use has increased dramatically,

moving from big cities—and at one time heroin use was an urban

problem—but now we see it affecting our smaller towns and dramatic increases in our rural areas. This is across the entire country

now. No one has escaped the ravages of what we are seeing.

As we will hear from one of our witnesses today, heroin, in particular, continues to have the largest impact of all illicit drugs used

in the Seattle area in terms of drug-related deaths—also in emergency department episodes and in criminal involvement.

Heroin overdoses and deaths continue to plague many of our

metropolitan areas, also our suburbs. Again, I come from central

Florida and represent a suburb area, and we have had young people dying in unprecedented numbers from heroin overdoses, and

even our most recent statistics are more grim than the year before

with the heroin deaths.

In Oregon, the State medical examiner’s office reports an average

of five people a week died of heroin-related causes in the first 6

months of 1999.

Our subcommittee continues to receive disturbing testimony that

Mexican crime organizations are attempting to market their heroin

and methamphetamine in new areas. We heard testimony of distinct marketing programs by these Mexican drug traffickers, again

even in the rural heartland in America, on Monday.

Analysts continue to examine the reason behind the surge in production, but say new, highly potent forms of heroin from drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico have been key to attracting new users,

and this is unbelievable, but their new target are young women,

girls. Young females are, indeed, their new target. These young

people typically prefer to sniff or smoke their drugs rather than inVerDate 11-MAY-2000 12:03 Jun 13, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\72582.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1
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ject them. Now, with the more-potent heroin that is available, this

high purity and deadly heroin, it is available as a powder in bags

or gel capsules and users can get high without injecting. That has

made this insidious drug a more seductive and palatable narcotic

to young teenage girls and our youth.

One of our witnesses today lost a sister to black-tar heroin. She

was 1 of 85 people in Chimayo, NM, who died tragically in the past

few years from ingesting this high-potency heroin.

Along with the increased availability has become a decrease in

the price and an increase in purity. A milligram dose of 3.6 percent

pure heroin cost about $3.90, 20 years ago, according to DEA. Now

the average milligram is 41.6 percent pure and costs only $1.

DEA has recently seized Colombian heroin that was 98 percent

pure, and that is about as deadly as it gets.

Sadly, heroin isn’t the only deadly drug coming across the border.

Three months ago I conducted two field hearings in California

where the predominant drug problem was methamphetamine coming up from Mexico along the I–4, the major artery corridor, to Sacramento.

In San Diego, our subcommittee heard testimony that 43 percent

of all individuals arrested in San Diego County were under the influence of methamphetamine, 43 percent. As I have said, the problem also is on the rampage in mid America.

The field hearing that I cited in Sioux City, IA, again illustrated

the breadth and depth of this problem. They call it ‘‘Mexican

meth,’’ and it is ravaging right now the midwest.

Meth lab seizures in Iowa have increased from just 8 in 1995 to

over 500 last year. That is the testimony that we had. And I think

that that was Federal seizures. Maybe the States I think and locals

had another 300 seizures.

At our recent Dallas hearing, DEA testified that in Oklahoma,

alone, almost 1,000 labs were busted in 1999. In every one of those

hearings I asked them where this garbage was coming from, where

is this meth or the precursor chemicals and who is dealing, and

every time the path leads back across the border to Mexico.

Nationwide, DEA seized 218 illegal labs in 1993. Last year, DEA

seized over 1,900. And if you count all the meth labs seized by

State, local, and Federal officials nationwide, the number is over

6,400.

Mexico is also the transportation corridor for 60 percent of the

cocaine coming into this country. While the Mexicans don’t produce

any cocaine and they do produce this new surge of black-tar heroin

that we have described—it is an incredible increase we have seen

in a 1-year period—they are not producers of coke, the base for cocaine. However, again, Mexico is the major transit area for cocaine

coming into this country.

I am very concerned to learn this week that Mexican seizures of

cocaine have again dropped. It shows again the lack of will, lack

of participation, lack of commitment and thumbing their nose at

the United States in this problem that Mexican officials again are

reporting a drop in seizures of cocaine in that country.

Given what we know has been almost a threefold increase in coca

production over the past few years, this drop in seizures is a warning signal to me of very lax enforcement on their side of the border.

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Finally, the criminal organizations are more frequently using illegal immigrants to carry drugs across the border, and the number

of illegal immigrants we are hearing that are involved in narcotics

trafficking is astounding—again, even in Iowa. We conducted a

hearing north of Atlanta, GA, with the vice chairman of the subcommittee some months ago and found an incredible number of illegal aliens in rural Georgia, and not much is being done to remove

these people. We look at the resources they spent sending one

Cuban boy back, and we can’t get drug dealers and traffickers who

are here illegally to begin with off our streets and sent back. Something is wrong.

Now we read of ranchers who are patrolling their land with dogs

and guns, and some ranchers resorting to being vigilantes in order

to restore order along our borders. And the violence isn’t occurring

just on our side of the border. Mexican citizens right now are paying an incredible price for the drug trade that flourishes in their

country. I have received reports that the states of Baja and the Yucatan Peninsula are also suffering from unprecedented numbers of

murders and violence. What has been traditionally corruption in

Mexico is now turning to a combination of corruption and incredible violence. In the state of Baja, they have even lined up people

and gunned them down en masse, and we have record numbers of

deaths in the Tijuana/Baja Peninsula area. They have killed, I believe, the second police chief there, and lawlessness prevails in that

state that has now become a narco-terrorist province within Mexico.

Just this April an ally of the United States, Mr. Jose Patino and

his colleagues working to indict drug traffickers, were abducted,

tortured, and executed as they drove from San Diego to Tijuana.

While the administration has suggested that a strong bilateral

approach to law enforcement with Mexico is necessary to achieving

our mutual interests and controlling our border and protecting our

citizens, very little has, in fact, been done to translate these words

into action. Mexicans again continue to thumb their nose at even

the basic request that the entire House of Representatives passed

several years ago asking for extradition of Mexican drug dealers,

and to date not one Mexican major drug kingpin has been extradited to the United States. Every one of our requests, in fact, that

we have made through resolutions of the House have been ignored.

In fact, some reports indicate that the Mexican Attorney General’s

Office has done little to strike a blow against the known traffickers

in Mexico.

I am greatly concerned that the vetted units that we have invested in cannot operate due to a lack of trust. They have made

even a farce out of vetted units that we have attempted to establish.

Where are the signs of cooperation? In each of the categories of

extradition, including also, as I said, other things that have been

requested, including a maritime agreement and anti-corruption

measures, we have seen almost no or little progress. The only time

we get any progress is close to certification when they think that

there is some threat, but, unfortunately, they bought all the lobbying and P.R. resources they can to thwart the intent of our certification law, made a mockery of even that.

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Today, given the havoc that is being wreaked on our Nation, it

is even more imperative that we critically examine the results of

past efforts and develop and implement sound plans and strategic

initiatives for the future. We should be ahead of the curve knowing

at all times that we are making progress and not losing ground.

My goodness, last night the House of Representatives did pass an

emergency supplemental legislation. We know the source and route

area that this administration has helped develop through its inane

policy with Colombia. The source and problem is Colombia for a lot

of the drugs that are produced. Mexico is now joining the production ranks in significant quantities. But I think that the action last

night will provide us with the resources that we need to move forward.

We were successful with initiatives that Mr. Hastert helped initiate, and the predecessor to this subcommittee helped initiate in

Peru and Bolivia, and those have dramatically increased the production of cocaine in those countries, and I think that we will have

a similar effect when the bill is well balanced to also provide resources to other areas. But, again, we must have an ally in this

whole effort, and Mexico must be part of the picture since it is the

biggest trafficker in illegal narcotics in the world right now.

I am not convinced that Mexico has done enough, as you can obviously ascertain, to stem the rising tide of drug exportation across

the border into this country.

Just last month, seven U.S. court justices who represent the five

districts that currently handle 26 percent of all criminal case filings in the southwest border courts came to Capitol Hill to tell

Congress about the mounting crisis in their courts. These jurists

reported that drug prosecutions in that area had doubled between

1994 and 1998, while immigration prosecutions increased five-fold.

As a Nation, we must face certain irrefutable facts. Increasing

the amount of illegal drugs, particularly heroin, coming from or

through Mexico, in fact, is ending up on our streets. Heroin and

those who traffic in it spread and finance gang violence, crime, destroy young lives, and undermine our communities and our very

quality of life.

The question remains how can we best stop what is going on,

how can we best bring the situation under control, and that is why

we are here today, to hear from witnesses who are involved directly

on the front lines of this effort.

I am pleased to have before us two panels this morning, and we

will have additional statements by Members submitted to the

record. Again, we will leave the record open for a period of 2 weeks.

[The prepared statement of Hon. John L. Mica follow:]

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Mr. MICA. This morning, as we proceed, we have two witness

panels. Let me introduce the first panel.

The first panel is Judge W. Royal Furgeson, Jr., the U.S. District

Court, Western District of Texas; Mr. Joseph D. Keefe, who is a

Special Agent in Charge of Special Operations Division of the Drug

Enforcement Administration; Mr. Ed Logan, who is a Special Agent

in Charge, San Diego, of the U.S. Customs Service; and Mr. Luis

E. Barker is a Chief Border Patrol Agent in El Paso sector of the

U.S. Border Patrol under INS.

We are pleased to welcome these witnesses to our subcommittee

this morning.

Let me say, as we proceed, this is an investigations and oversight

subcommittee of the full Government Reform Committee of the

House of Representatives. In that regard, we do swear in all our

witnesses, which we will do in just a moment.

Also, if you have any lengthy statement, any statement for the

subcommittee, oral presentation beyond 5 minutes, I ask that you

request that it be submitted to the record and will be done so by

unanimous consent. Also, any additional data, background that you

would like to be made part of the record, if you request through

the Chair that also will be added to the proceedings and your statement today.

With that, if you could please rise and be sworn.

Raise your right hands.

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. MICA. This was answered in the affirmative. We’ll let the

record reflect that.

Welcome this morning. I think first we’ll turn to Judge W. Royal

Furgeson, Jr., who is the U.S. district court, western district of

Texas.

Welcome, sir. You are recognized.

STATEMENTS OF JUDGE W. ROYAL FURGESON, JR., U.S. DISTRICT COURT, WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS; JOSEPH D.

KEEFE, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, SPECIAL OPERATIONS

DIVISION, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION; ED

LOGAN, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, SAN DIEGO, U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE; AND LUIS E. BARKER, CHIEF BORDER PATROL AGENT, EL PASO SECTOR, U.S. BORDER PATROL, INS

Judge FURGESON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. My

name is Royal Furgeson, and I am a U.S. district judge for the

western district of Texas. I was one of the judges who came last

month to Congress to talk with the Congress about the impact of

the southwestern border initiative on the Federal courts on the border.

As you well mentioned in your report, the five judicial districts

on the border are now handling 26 percent of all criminal filings

in the U.S. courts. That is basically 5 percent of the Federal courts

handling 26 percent of the criminal filings.

If the trend continues, we estimate that this 5 percent may be

handling as much as a third of all criminal filings within several

years.

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Let me give you just a brief indication of the impact your initiative has had on my court. By the way, I do have a written statement that I would request be put in the record.

Mr. MICA. Without objection, your entire statement will be made

part of the record.

Please proceed.

Judge FURGESON. Thank you, sir.

I am the presiding judge over the Pecos Division of the Western

District of Texas. It is one of seven divisions in the Western District. Three of our divisions are on the border—El Paso, Del Rio,

and Pecos. The Pecos Division covers 430 miles of border with Mexico. It includes the Big Bend National Park, which is the fourth

largest national park in the 48 States, the lower 48.

In 1995, the first year that I presided over the criminal docket

of the Pecos division, there were 45 criminal cases filed. That is

about the time that the southwest border initiative began. Since

the start of the southwest border initiative, my docket has grown

considerably. Last year, 1999, there were 386 criminal cases filed

in the Pecos division. That is an 800 percent increase in 4 years.

In the first 5 months of this year, 252 criminal cases have been

filed in the Pecos division. That comes to 50 cases a month. I believe there will be over 600 cases filed in the Pecos division this

year. That will be a 55 percent increase in criminal filings over last

year.

Last year, I and the two judges to my west who handle El Paso,

TX, presided over an average, among the three of us, of about 750

cases. The average criminal case filings for district judges last year

in America was 74. Right now our three courts are handling something like 10 times the number of average filings for judges across

the United States.

I think the goal of the border initiative was to stop drug smuggling and drug trafficking. I think that goal is well underway. I

don’t know if these gentlemen to my left believe they have met the

goal yet, but they are doing an impressive job of interdicting drug

smuggling, and those drug smuggling cases are then coming into

our courts in record number.

What we have been trying to tell the Congress, Mr. Chairman,

and what we told the Congress when we came last month, was that

this increase in law enforcement on the border is having an enormous impact on the judiciary on the border, and we are really

under an incredible stress attempting to handle the cases that are

coming into our courts.

Our goal is to handle them and handle them as effectively and

efficiently as we can, but with the enormous addition of cases in

our courts, we are under enormous strain.

We have asked for additional funding for the courts on the border. That is a part of our request for the total budget of the judiciary this year, and we have also asked for new judgeships and other

kinds of support, and we have been very gratified by the response

we have received.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. MICA. Thank you, Judge Furgeson.

[The prepared statement of Judge Furgeson follows:]

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Mr. MICA. We’ll suspend questions until we have heard from all

of the witnesses on this panel.

We will now hear from Joseph D. Keefe, and he is the special

agent in charge of special operations division of DEA, our Drug Enforcement Agency.

Welcome, sir. You are recognized.

Mr. KEEFE. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today to discuss the issue of drug

trafficking along the southwest border.

My submitted testimony will provide you with objective assessment of the law enforcement issues surrounding the drug threat

posed by international drug trafficking organizations. My overall

remarks today will be limited to the Mexican heroin trade and our

response to this threat.

The organized crime syndicates in Mexico have grown significantly more powerful and wealthy over the last 6 years. Their position in the cocaine trade has been significantly enhanced by the Colombians payment in cocaine for providing transportation services

for drug lords. These trafficking organizations have accrued billions

of dollars in drug profits annually and now rival their Colombian

counterparts in power, wealth, and influence.

The Mexican organized crime syndicates are not satisfied with

their billions in cocaine profits. They also seek profits in the heroin

trade. Mexican heroin has become the second-largest source used

in the United States.

Organized crime syndicates based in Mexico now dominate the

marketplace in the west and hold a substantial share of the midwest market and are actively pursuing markets on the East Coast.

Historically, traffickers from Mexico use their proximity and access

to the southwest border to their advantage. After safely smuggling

heroin across the border, these organizations routinely stockpile

the heroin in locations such as San Diego and Los Angeles, CA.

The heroin is subsequently distributed in pound quantities

throughout the United States.

By keeping quantities small, traffickers minimize the risk of losing significant quantities of product to U.S. law enforcement. In addition, once the heroin reaches the United States, these traffickers

rely upon well-entrenched drug smuggling and distribution networks to distribute their heroin.

The popularity of black-tar heroin has increased as its purity has

soared. Traditionally, Mexican heroin, such as Mexican brown or

black-tar heroin, was recognized as inferior and less pure grade of

heroin; however, recent investigations such as Operation Tar Pit

have revealed purity levels of black-tar heroin as high as 84 percent, explaining its increased popularity.

Heroin abuse is not restricted to the inner city poor or the Hollywood elite. Middle class teenagers and young adults in places like

Orlando, FL; Plano, TX; and Rio Arriba County, NM have fallen

prey to heroin addiction as a consequence of their experimentation

with high purity dosages of this dangerous narcotic. Tragically, Rio

Arriba County, NM, had the highest per capita heroin overdose

rate in America. Between 1995 and 1998, the small town of

Chimayo, located in Rio Arriba County, suffered over 85 deaths attributed to high-purity black-tar heroin.

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In order to combat drug production and trafficking networks operating along the southwest border, DEA, in concert with other

Federal agencies, established the southwest border initiative, an

integrated, coordinated law enforcement effort designed to attack

the command and control structure of organized criminal operations associated with these criminal organizations.

The most effective way to dismantle these drug traffic organizations is through multi-agency cooperative investigation. The special

operations division enhances agencies’ ability to dismantle these organizations. The special operations division is a joint national coordinating and support entity comprised of agents, analysts, and

prosecutors of the Department of Justice, U.S. Customs, Federal

Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, and Internal

Revenue Service. Its mission is to coordinate and support regional

and national criminal investigations and prosecutions against drug

trafficking organizations that threaten our Nation.

These cooperative investigations have yielded tremendous results, as evidenced by the success of Operation Impunity, Operation Green Air, and most recently Operation Tar Pit.

Operation Tar Pit was a year-long investigation which resulted

in a complete disruption and dismantling of the largest black-tar

heroin organization operating in the United States to date. The operation culminated in the arrests of over 225 suspects and the seizure of 64 pounds of black-tar heroin.

The investigation revealed that this organization was responsible

for smuggling and distributing approximately 80 to 100 pounds of

black-tar heroin a month into the United States. In addition, Operation Tar Pit proved that Mexican traffickers were, in fact, attempting to expand their traditional western markets into the

more-lucrative high purity white heroin market in the eastern part

of the Nation currently controlled by Colombian-based traffickers.

This criminal organization established heroin drug trafficking

sales as far west as Hawaii and as far east as New Jersey.

Operation Tar Pit also revealed this organization’s ruthlessness

and total disregard for human life. During the investigation it was

learned that these criminals targeted methadone clinics and preyed

on heroin addicts who were seeking help for their heroin addiction.

Their callous marketing efforts were responsible for driving recovering addicts back into the cycle of heroin use.

Drug trafficking organizations operating along the southwest

border continue to be one of the greatest threats to communities

across the Nation. The DEA is deeply committed in our efforts to

identify, target, arrest, and incapacitate the leadership of these

criminal drug trafficking organizations.

Cooperative investigations such as Operation Tar Pit serve to

send a strong message to all drug traffickers that the U.S. law enforcement community will not sit idle as these criminal organizations threaten the welfare of our citizens and the security of our

towns and cities.

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before

your subcommittee. I will be happy to answer questions at the

right time, sir.

We also have a short video to show you at some point.

Mr. MICA. How long is the video?

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Mr. KEEFE. Just about a minute, sir.

Mr. MICA. Why don’t we just go ahead and show that now at the

end of your testimony, if you are ready.

Mr. KEEFE. Mr. Chairman, this video shows an example of how

they were moving—in Operation Tar Pit, how the traffickers were

moving pounds of black-tar heroin within the United States.

An example here is a boom box often used by a typical Mexican

female, often juvenile, would often carry a boom box on a bus and

travel from Los Angeles, CA, for example, to Columbus, OH.

The other example is a rice cooker, which was shipped by mail,

which also contained approximately about a pound of black-tar heroin which would be shipped from the West Coast to whichever city

it was going to, and they did this continuously throughout this investigation.

[Videotape presentation.]

Mr. KEEFE. You can see the black-tar heroin contained in the

packets.

Mr. MICA. In our hearing on Monday on Sioux City, IA, local enforcement officials described how they set up an auto parts business and were shipping—I think it was meth in this case—into the

Sioux City area, the tri-county area, tri-State area up there, and

so sophisticated that they actually created this bogus business.

When they went after them the business evaporated. I think that

was also tied to an operation in California.

They were setting up false businesses and then shipping the

stuff in through that, similar fashion.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Keefe follows:]

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Mr. MICA. We’ll turn now to Mr. Ed Logan, special agent in

charge in San Diego, U.S. Customs Service.

Welcome, sir. You are recognized.

Mr. LOGAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the

U.S. Customs Service’s efforts in protecting the southwest border.

As the committee is well aware, the Customs Service, along our

border with Mexico, must work in a multidimensional threat environment. While we have positioned most of our personnel and resources facing south along the 1,800-mile land border that we

share with Mexico to screen persons, conveyances, and goods moving north, we also must be watchful on southbound trade and traffic which may be carrying weapons, undeclared currency, hazardous materials, controlled technology, stolen cars, or fugitives from

justice leaving the United States.

At the same time, due to our geography, we must also look west

and east, where the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico provide

yet another avenue for drug smugglers long schooled in the ways

of moving narcotics by sea.

We also must be able to look up and monitor our skies, which

became in the 1970’s and the 1980’s the quickest way for drugs to

enter the country.

Last, all the agencies along the border must be ever vigilant to

the presence of tunnels, which have been created to move both narcotics and illegal aliens into the United States.

Within California, in my area of operations, in 1999 Customs encountered over 30 million passenger vehicles, 95 million persons,

almost a million trucks, thousands of pleasure craft, and cleared

for entry into the United States commerce over $12 billion of trade

only from Mexico.

To meet our threat, we have deployed personnel, technology, air,

and vessels to screen the border environment, whether that be on

land, in the air, or at sea. All of these pose unique challenges.

Screened from this enormous haystack of people and conveyances, the Customs Service has seized 192 tons of marijuana, 5

tons of cocaine, 1,164 pounds of methamphetamine, and 226

pounds of heroin, most of it black tar, along with arresting over

4,000 drug smugglers.

In 8 short years, we have witnessed drug seizures rise at our

California ports of entry from 370 in 1991 to over 4,000 in 1998.

As I have previously testified before this committee in March,

last year over 58 percent of all detected drug smuggling events at

United States ports of entry along the Mexican border occurred in

California. While Customs is responsible for enforcing sections of

the U.S. code on behalf of 60 other Federal agencies and routinely

conducts a wide variety of investigative activity, Commissioner

Kelly has clearly stated that interdicting narcotics and dismantling

drug smuggling organizations is our highest priority.

The windows of opportunity for would-be drug smugglers are

staggering, and the number climbs each year as the benefits of

NAFTA continue to increase trade with our southern neighbor,

which rose 115 percent in California from fiscal year 1994 to 1999.

Our efforts to deal with our ever-increasing work load may be

characterized as follows: continuous coordination with Federal,

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State, and local resources through coalition law enforcement; the

utilization of technology; effective intelligence gathering and sharing; and proactive investigative operations targeted drug smuggling

organizations.

The increased availability of x-ray systems and dedicated intelligence and investigative efforts at our commercial facilities are already resulting in increased seizures of narcotics. For example, this

fiscal year to date at Otay Mesa and Tecate there have been 44 significant seizures of marijuana concealed in trucks, averaging approximately 1,400 pounds each. This is up from 6 seizures in 1995

that averaged approximately 600 pounds, and 30 the previous year

that averaged 960 pounds.

We are seeing a disturbing trend toward the increased use of

commercial trucks, including concealment in false walls and roofs,

as well as commingled in legitimate commerce.

Black-tar heroin, on the other hand, is much more difficult to detect as it enters the United States from Mexico. While there are

some poly drug smuggling organizations which move heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine, our recent experience in

intelligence tell us that there are highly organized Mexican traffickers who specialize in smuggling black-tar heroin into the

United States and distributing it in communities across the United

States. DEA’s highly successful Operation Tar Pit is vivid confirmation.

Heroin couriers by the hundreds move stealthily through the

southwest border, many carrying relatively small amounts concealed on and in their bodies. Other couriers move it in larger

quantities in vehicles, usually between 15 to 20 pounds, concealed

in specially constructed compartments and modified car components like manifolds and engine blocks. Often the only way we can

confirm the presence of heroin in vehicles, even when we have advance intelligence, is to x ray. In many cases the heroin is so well

integrated into the vehicle we have to partially destroy the car to

remove the drugs.

This is why interagency intelligence sharing on drug smuggling

operations and organizations and techniques is so critical to effective counter-narcotics operations. While interdicting the drugs at

the border is important, our controlled deliveries and investigative

bridge strategy enables the Customs Service, oftentimes in partnership with DEA, the FBI, and State and local agencies, to identify

the scope of the smuggling and distributing organizations

transiting our border for heartland, U.S.A., and all other major

metropolitan cities.

Those of us who work on the United States-Mexican border know

that it is an environment in which drug smuggling routinely infiltrates legitimate trade and commerce. The traffickers and smugglers are experienced, well-financed, often well-trained, and, sadly,

highly effective in their efforts.

In conclusion, we take pride in our law enforcement coalition as

the Customs Service is not alone along the border. We remain

shoulder-to-shoulder with all of the agencies, Federal and State,

who have resources dedicated to this important effort. I am proud

to represent the Customs Service in providing insights into the

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hard work being conducted by the men and women of the Customs

Service every day along the border.

I have a longer statement, Mr. Chairman, and I would request

that it be submitted.

Mr. MICA. Without objection, your entire statement will be made

part of the record. Thank you for your testimony.

Mr. LOGAN. Thank you, sir.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Logan follows:]

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Mr. MICA. I will now turn to Luis E. Barker. Mr. Barker is chief

of the border patrol, El Paso sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, INS.

Welcome, sir. You are recognized.

Mr. BARKER. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished

members of the subcommittee. I am Luis Barker, chief patrol agent

of the El Paso sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. I am pleased to

have the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today to

speak to you about the Border Patrol and our narcotic enforcement

efforts along the southwest border.

The El Paso sector encompasses 125,000 square miles of territory, including the entire State of New Mexico and two counties in

west Texas. We have 12 Border Patrol stations and 6 permanent

Border Patrol checkpoints under our jurisdiction. Currently, we

have approximately 1,000 agents assigned to the El Paso sector,

one of the largest geographical sectors in the country. The topography of the El Paso sector is quite diverse. It includes 180 land

border miles and 109 river boundary miles.

The El Paso sector agents, like those across the country, diligently perform their duties every day in an environment that is becoming more dangerous and threatening because of alien and narcotics smugglers. Border Patrol agents protect our national security, are arresting individuals who enter the country illegally and

who may pose a criminal threat to our communities.

Before 1993, there was no comprehensive unified plan for controlling this 2,000-mile frontier. The number of Border Patrol

agents was insufficient to get the job done, and those we had were

not provided all the equipment and technology necessary to do the

job. As a result, illegal immigrants and drug smugglers came

across the border with little fear of being apprehended. The Border

Patrol management strategy we developed to deal with the problems on the southwest border was comprehensive and multi-year.

The strategy is simply a call for prevention through deterrence—

that is, elevating the risk of apprehension to the point where immigrant and drug traffickers consider it futile to enter the United

States illegally.

That concept first took shape in late 1993 in El Paso with Operation Hold the Line. The operation was designed to reduce the

alarming increase in illegal entries and crime in the metropolitan

El Paso area. Approximately 400 agents teamed together on the

border for 25 miles. El Paso sector was able to reduce apprehensions by more than 70 percent and reduced crime by 15 percent almost overnight. For the first time, this border community saw an

effective integration strategy could make a difference, as well as

improve the quality of life in New Mexico and west Texas.

These strategies still remain in effect today, although not without additional challenges. Because of the effectiveness of Hold the

Line in west Texas, areas in southern New Mexico are now being

impacted heavily. Some illegal immigration shift is now being felt

in areas in New Mexico such as Deming, Columbus, and

Lordsburg. These southern New Mexico communities are experiencing a trend of increasing apprehension and smuggling activity. In

some areas, agents are encountering large groups of immigrants, as

large as 75 to 100. Alien smugglers have increased their illegal acVerDate 11-MAY-2000 12:03 Jun 13, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\72582.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1
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tivity and subsequent exploitation of people who are willing to pay

them.

In addition to these challenges, there is also the constant element of danger for agents who are tasked with the responsibility

of interrupting smuggling episodes. For the first time, we are seeing a consistent pattern of narcotics smuggling in southern New

Mexico via backpacking and horseback in the outlying New Mexico

areas. The interception of narcotics loads is a daily occurrence at

traffic checkpoints in New Mexico. This past Sunday, agents working a checkpoint near Alamogordo seized more than 1 ton of marijuana in a U-Haul truck bound for Florida. The driver, as it turned

out, had an outstanding warrant from Florida on aggravated

charges with a firearm. This scenario is not uncommon.

Our agents remain vigilant 24 hours a day and now have at their

disposal technology that includes surveillance cameras, night vision

equipment, aircraft, and newly introduced vehicle barriers designed

to prevent drive-through narcotic loads from entering the United

States at specific points along the border.

In the immediate El Paso area, we are also seeing more ingenuity by those who persist in breaking immigration laws. Illegal immigrants and drug couriers come in and utilize storm drainage tunnels, which consists of an entire network of underground

entranceways into the United States. While our agents are now

stepping up surveillance on tunnel networks, it is a problem that

persists.

Drug interdiction remains a top priority for the El Paso sector

agents. In New Mexico, alone, our agents have made 634 seizures

this current year. On a national scale since 1993, we have more

than doubled the number of Border Patrol agents to over 8,600,

with the vast majority stationed on the southwest border. We have

increased their effectiveness by providing state-of-the-art equipment to our agents, such as infrared scopes, underground sensors,

and other force-multiplying equipment and technology. With congressional support, we are improving our enforcement infrastructure along the border by installing fences and anti-drive-through

barriers and constructing all-weather roads to enhance mobile patrolling efforts.

Although the Border Patrol’s primary mission is to enforce immigration laws of this country, a national drug control strategy acknowledges the Border Patrol as a primary Federal interdiction

agency along our land border with Canada and Mexico. Strategically, the more effective the Border Patrol is at deterring illegal

entry of any kind, the more effective are the counter-drug strategies of the inspection agencies at the ports of entries and the investigative agencies in the interior. The Border Patrol specifically focuses on drug smuggling at our ports of entry.

On March 25, 1996, the INS and DEA signed a memorandum of

understanding which outlines the authorities, responsibilities, and

general procedures for the Border Patrol to follow in its drug interdiction activities. The Border Patrol also participates in the INS

and U.S. Customs border coordination initiative. As a result of cooperation and good working relationship among INS, DEA, and the

U.S. Customs Service, drug investigation efforts and interdictions

are on the rise.

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Mr. Chairman, the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol are

proud to be serving their country as they enforce our Nation’s immigration laws. I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to appear before you today, and I will be happy to answer any question

that you might have.

I have a longer version of my oral comments.

Mr. MICA. Without objection, your entire statement will be made

part of the record, so ordered.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Barker follows:]

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Mr. MICA. I thank each of the witnesses on this first panel for

your testimony.

Let me start with Mr. Keefe. DEA produces heroin signature

identification of drugs and heroin coming into the United States

and can identify pretty accurately where heroin is coming from; is

that correct?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. In the last report that has been provided to our subcommittee, it indicated a 20 percent increase in 1 year, and that

is, I think, from 1997, I think it is, to 1998. When will you produce

again another assessment of your signature on heroin?

Mr. KEEFE. I’ll have to get you that answer, Mr. Chairman. I

don’t know—— Mr. MICA. You don’t know?

Mr. KEEFE [continuing]. Exactly when it will come out.

Mr. MICA. Is that accurate?

Mr. KEEFE. I just understand, sir, that one should be out in 2

months, approximately.

Mr. MICA. In 2 months?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. This is a pretty dramatic increase in any kind of narcotic. In fact, it’s a pretty startling increase. I’ve never seen anything that dramatic as far as a production level. Have you?

Mr. KEEFE. No, sir. Not with the Mexican heroin. No, sir.

Mr. MICA. And you are saying that also this is a very deadly heroin; is that correct?

Mr. KEEFE. Because of the high purity.

Mr. MICA. And what was the level? You said you’ve identified

some of this at what percentage of purity?

Mr. KEEFE. The highest we saw in Operation Tar Pit was 84 percent.

Mr. MICA. That’s 84 percent?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. And that probably is accounting for the deaths. We

heard the deaths, I think, along the border in Chimayo, that one

New Mexican border town, probably in my community in Orlando,

and other areas. Is the high purity what is killing them?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. We are tracing this back without question to Mexico,

also, the black tar?

Mr. KEEFE. That’s correct, sir. We know it was produced, grown

in Mexico, made into heroin in Mexico, then smuggled across into

the United States.

Mr. MICA. What would you attribute to the dramatic increase? Is

it lack of U.S. enforcement going after this, or is it laxness on the

part of the Mexicans to bring production under control?

Mr. KEEFE. Well, I——

Mr. MICA. I mean, you’re increasing your enforcement efforts.

Obviously, something is happening on the other end if we are getting this significant production.

Mr. KEEFE. I think the Mexicans, in the heroin field, sir, are

competing with the Colombians. They have learned from the Colombians in marketing. They’ve learned from the Colombians

through dealing with the cocaine.

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Mr. MICA. Well, that’s the marketers, but I’m talking about the

officials in charge in Mexico. It doesn’t appear this is a priority to

go after the production. Would that be correct? And we’re seeing

more of this stuff coming in from Mexico, a dramatic increase.

Now, what is most disturbing, is this week, I received—I guess,

Madruso, the Attorney General, had announced that the seizures

are down of cocaine. That’s what he publicly announced, I think,

this past week. Does that confirm what you’ve heard?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. This is Mexican seizures.

Mr. KEEFE. Mexican, yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. Now, our heroin seizures are up, right?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Our cocaine seizures are up?

Mr. KEEFE. I believe so. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Yes. And theirs are down. At least their production is

up of heroin.

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. And their seizures of cocaine are down. Do you think

that you’re having any less cocaine transiting through their country?

Mr. KEEFE. No, sir.

Mr. MICA. What disturbs me, too, is the marketing that we’ve

heard. It appears that they are actually marketing black-tar heroin

in the United States; is that—— Mr. KEEFE. That’s correct, sir.

Mr. MICA. And was it you, Mr. Logan who testified that they are

even targeting methadone clinics? Or was that you?

Mr. KEEFE. That was me, sir.

Mr. MICA. This is the first time I’ve heard that. I’ve heard marketing, almost giving out samples to young people for potential

growing the user market, but you’re saying they’re even going now

after methadone clinics?

Mr. KEEFE. They would go into the areas of the methadone clinics—obviously, the people going there were heroin users at one

time, or whatever—and target those people with, as you mentioned,

free samples, for instance, as they’ve moved into new cities

throughout the United States.

Mr. MICA. And you said—I think it was you that testified—just

correct me if I am wrong—80 to 100 pounds a month?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Is that seizures, or just an estimate coming across?

Mr. KEEFE. That’s what we estimated this group was moving for

the past year in Operation Tar Pit.

Mr. MICA. Judge Furgeson, you are in the business of bringing

to justice these folks. Are your courts—now, you are a Federal

court officer?

Judge FURGESON. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. Are you prosecuting people who are using small

amounts of narcotics?

Judge FURGESON. We see a wide range, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MICA. Tell me, most people think that the courts are now

going after someone who is smoking a marijuana joint or that is

using a small-time user. Is that what you’re dealing with?

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Judge FURGESON. That’s not the case at all. My first year I was

in El Paso——

Mr. MICA. Describe the majority of cases you are handling, because a lot of people—in fact, I went to bed last night watching

somebody spiel off about how this is just a treatment problem, and

if we treat these folks everything will be fine. I want to know if

your folks are in that category, that they just need a little treatment and the problem will go away.

Judge FURGESON. Well, my first year in El Paso I had a 2-ton

cocaine case. It was two semi trucks——

Mr. MICA. Was that for personal use?

Judge FURGESON. No, sir.

Mr. MICA. Alright. [Laughter.]

Judge FURGESON. No, sir. And the defendants were Colombians.

I sit in three different places. El Paso is a very large cocaine corridor, and I think the great percentage of cases coming into El Paso

are large cocaine shipments.

The Pecos division covers the Sierra Blanca checkpoint, which is

manned by the Border Patrol on I–10, and there we see heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Not too long ago I had an 11-pound

methamphetamine case, which I think is a substantial amount of

methamphetamine.

In the Pecos division, the Big Bend area, I see very large

amounts of marijuana, 1,000-pound, 1,500-pound cases of marijuana. There are smaller cases, as well, 100 pounds, 200 pounds.

Mr. MICA. Well, smaller cases, again—personal use?

Judge FURGESON. There is no personal use case in my court.

None.

Mr. MICA. So we’re not clogging the courts with people who need

treatment and the small-time abusers or addicts?

Judge FURGESON. There are——

Mr. MICA. I don’t want to put words in your mouth. Tell me what

you are seeing in your court.

Judge FURGESON. I’m not seeing anything——

Mr. MICA. Because people don’t want to be—they tell me they

don’t want to be spending money going after people who are smalltime users or an addict who needs treatment. Is that what the Federal courts are doing? Are you harassing these people badly in need

of treatment?

Judge FURGESON. There are no personal use cases in my court.

I mean, it is not close. Probably the closest thing to a small amount

of smuggling comes from what we call ‘‘backpackers,’’ people who

are convinced to put 40, 50, 60 pounds of marijuana on their back

in groups of 5, 10, 15, and they backpack that marijuana across

wide tracts of dessert.

Mr. MICA. And that’s the majority of your cases?

Judge FURGESON. No. That is the cases where people are bringing in smaller amounts. They’re bringing——

Mr. MICA. Still trafficking?

Judge FURGESON. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. The other thing I hear repeatedly is we’ve got to do

away with minimum mandatory. We’ve held hearings on minimum

mandatories, that our Federal laws are just too tough on these

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guys. What is your advice to the subcommittee? Should we throw

away the tough sentencing guidelines?

Judge FURGESON. I like the guidelines because I think the guidelines build uniformity into our system. Now, I’m a younger—I’m a

newer judge. I have been on the bench 6 years. Some judges with

longer terms do not like the guidelines, but I think the guidelines

are helpful.

I, like all judges, would like to have more flexibility in sentencing, and I do appreciate the safety valve—— Mr. MICA. That’s what I was going to ask you about. Most people

aren’t aware, but Congress also gave a safety valve, so there is an

opportunity to give people a chance and gives you some flexibility

in this process.

Judge FURGESON. Absolutely. And the safety valve provisions in

the sentencing guidelines are very helpful to Federal judges, very

helpful.

Mr. MICA. You talked about prosecution and your need—I mean,

for additional resources, the incredible strain this has created on

the court system there. Is it also affecting other services, like the

U.S. Marshals?

Judge FURGESON. The work of the marshals on the border has

increased, I think, about 100-plus percent in 4 or 5 years, and the

resources, the additional personnel and staffing, has increased 15

percent.

The work the U.S. Marshals are doing on the border in my opinion is heroic, and it is done under very daunting circumstances. I

would really hope that the Attorney General will consider a substantial increase in marshal personnel for the border. What those

men and women are trying to do is close to impossible.

Mr. MICA. The other thing that we’ve noticed—I have been involved in this back in the 1980’s with Senator Hawkins when we

did a lot in starting the war, a real war on drugs, and we did the

Andean strategy, the drug certification, Vice President’s task force,

and other things that made a big difference, and we started seeing

a dramatic decline in drug use and going after illegal narcotics, but

the beginning of this administration we actually saw, I think, in

1992, about 29,000 drug prosecution cases. Then they started dropping, dropping, dropping drug prosecution.

We started raising hell with them back in 1995 when we took

over, and they started getting back. They’re about to the 1992 level

of going after. It sounds like you are doing most of the work.

My point is, now I’m getting back as chairman of the subcommittee reports that sentencing is going down, down, down, prosecution

is going up. Do you find that to be the case in your jurisdiction?

Judge FURGESON. You mean that people are getting lesser sentences?

Mr. MICA. Lesser sentences. Yes.

Judge FURGESON. I follow the guidelines, and I would be very

surprised—I don’t know what my statistics are. I sentence 500 or

600 people a year, maybe more than that, maybe up to 700 or 800

now, but I follow the guidelines, and so I am not clear that the sentences are reducing in severity.

Mr. MICA. Well, look at your jurisdiction and maybe you could

provide us with some of that specific information.

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Judge FURGESON. I would be glad to do that.

Mr. MICA. We would appreciate that.

Let me turn now to the Border Patrol. You know, one of the disturbing things we have heard here is threats on our agents, and

some of these drug traffickers, particularly on the Mexican side,

have become pretty emboldened, threatening our agents. There

have been reports of bounties. What is the response of the agency

to those kinds of threats that we’ve heard of?

Mr. BARKER. Every threat is taken seriously and they are investigated by the FBI. Once we get them, we make sure that the alert

is put out. These agents are well capable of protecting themselves,

and we make sure that, even in those situations where they are not

teamed up, that help is close by in the event that it does occur.

Mr. MICA. What kind of penalties are there if there is an attack

or somebody goes after one of our agents? And do we have a reward

system to so-called ‘‘return the favor’’?

Mr. BARKER. There is no reward system, per se, but, again, these

agents certainly are capable of protecting themselves and, again,

we take them all seriously, and we make provisions to make sure

that there is backup in the event that these agents are attacked.

We are seeing that in many forms, not in terms of a bounty, but

the attacks on these agents both in the form of rocks thrown and

shots fired at our agents. Just in a little bit over a month we had

an agent pursuing a load back to the border, back to the river, and

when he got to the place where the backpackers had brought the

drugs into the United States they were met by a person who was

laying in wait who fired a shot through the windshield. Fortunately, the agents—it was during the day time—saw the person

level the weapon and got down. It went through the windshield on

the driver’s side.

We are seeing that a lot more. We are seeing it in terms of

rockings where they are protecting loads once they are intercepted

and they try to make their way back across the border.

Mr. MICA. So, compared to 2 or 3 years ago, what is the situation

with acts of violence against Border agents?

Mr. BARKER. It has gotten worse. And, again, not all of them are

firearms.

Mr. MICA. Are you all dealing with Mexican officials on the other

side and asking for cooperation?

Mr. BARKER. Yes. We do that on a regular basis.

Mr. MICA. What’s the response?

Mr. BARKER. The response is mixed right now, mainly because

they are introducing this new police on the border, and we have

had the contacts with them, and sometimes they do show up, sometimes they don’t.

One of the problems is identifying the location both in Mexico

and in the United States where someone can get there in a reasonable period of time. We have engaged with them to map these locations, so when we identify a place they’ll know exactly where it is.

The response time is the critical issue, and that’s the part that

we are trying to get our arms around, because if we call them and

they are not able to respond almost immediately, it is almost futile.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Logan, you talked about the difficulty of going

after some of these drugs that are coming in across the border from

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Mexico, the more sophisticated ways to disguise narcotics. What is

the progress that Customs is making in getting equipment and

technology in place to deal with this problem?

Mr. LOGAN. Well, for example, at Otay we have two, a Vacis system and a standing prototype x ray. Another Vacis is on tap, I believe, for August. There’s also some technology being done related

to submarine warfare called a ‘‘sonar pinging device,’’ which we

hope and anticipate may have some success in identifying loads in

gas tanks, as well as tires.

Gas tanks, Mr. Chairman, account for approximately 26 to 30

percent of all narcotics loads in vehicles that come across, so we

think that advantage will help us.

The technology is vital and it is crucial, but it never replaces a

trained investigator or a trained inspector, inter-agency cooperation, and intelligence, which clearly continues to be the most helpful, whether it is electronic means, wire tap information, informant

information, interagency investigations, like tar pit—continue to be

vital in trying to find that needle in the haystack. The haystack is

growing immensely.

Mr. MICA. We have been down to the southwest border, and we

have conducted hearings both on the border and reviews of what

is going on, and also back here in Washington. One of the recommendations was that we have some type of a border coordinator

or border czar. Has the administration made any progress, to your

knowledge, on appointing a coordinator, someone to help make certain those efforts all come together? Do you know anything about

this Mr. Logan, Mr. Keefe, Mr. Barker?

Mr. LOGAN. Well, there continues always to be interagency cooperation. To my knowledge, there has not been a coordinator

named.

Mr. MICA. No progress on that? Mr. Barker.

Mr. BARKER. Yes, there is a border coordinator. Prior—it was the

U.S. Attorney in the State of New Mexico, but he has since left and

another one was appointed, but I agree with Mr. Logan. I think the

interagency cooperation on the ground is crucial and I think there

is quite a bit of that, because I know, especially in El Paso, we

interact quite regularly with DEA and Customs. In fact, we’ve gotten agents on every task force that those two agencies have.

Mr. MICA. And overall we do not have a coordinator in place at

this point?

Mr. BARKER. I think there is one, and he is a U.S. Attorney.

Mr. KEEFE. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona I believe is currently on the Southwest Border Council. Yes, sir. And

they meet regularly, as do the law enforcement agencies meet with

that council regularly, sir.

Mr. MICA. OK. Well, that was one of the recommendations that

came out of the hearing, that we have somebody in charge and coordinate. Maybe we can check with the agency heads to see how

that is progressing. It was one of the problems that we identified.

Are DEA agents still restricted, to your knowledge, on being

armed in Mexico?

Mr. KEEFE. Nothing has changed, to my knowledge.

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Mr. MICA. Nothing has changed. Are you aware of any major

kingpin drug trafficker expedited since DEA last came to testify before our subcommittee?

Mr. KEEFE. No, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MICA. No one?

Mr. KEEFE. No, sir.

Mr. MICA. You testified mostly, Mr. Keefe, about black-tar heroin

and the focus of this hearing has been predominantly on the blacktar heroin, but the meth explosion is basically another phenomena

that we’ve never seen anything like. Everywhere we conduct a

hearing now we are hearing local and State law enforcement officials tell us that they are being inundated by methamphetamine

and mostly traced back to Mexico. Are you getting those same reports?

Mr. KEEFE. We see it back to Mexico or to Mexican national organizations that are producing it in California.

Mr. MICA. They are also using networks of illegals involved in

transport and even production in the States now.

Mr. KEEFE. That’s correct.

Mr. MICA. So the other thing that we’re seeing is the actual meth

product being transported from Mexico, and now we are getting

into the illegals and the meth gangs being involved in these meth

labs; is that also correct?

Mr. KEEFE. In the United States?

Mr. MICA. Yes.

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. Well, with producing small amounts of methamphetamine there are some domestic chemicals that can be used. Are we

seeing precursors also come in from Mexico?

Mr. KEEFE. Yes. Obviously, they would be smuggled in, so yes

there are some precursors coming in from Mexico, as well as coming into the United States, purchasing them here too, sir.

Mr. MICA. This is just beyond belief, but in the central part of

the United States, midwest, I guess Representative Latham had

gotten a training center established at the cost of about $1.2 million a year for the past several years just to train local and State

enforcement people on how to deal with meth labs. I understand

going after meth labs is not a simple thing, because there is explosive and hazardous material involved. That’s just, again, for that

little tri-State area.

Are you seeing or getting reports from local officials of the same

problem in dealing with, again, this meth production, this meth lab

around the country?

Mr. KEEFE. Absolutely. Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. It is a tremendous problem, as you mentioned, because the toxicity of the chemicals, the potential for explosion, and environmental concerns when

they dump the waste into a local stream or just bury it in the

ground.

Mr. MICA. Again, I don’t want to be over-exaggerating the meth

situation, but everywhere we go—we have been in Sacramento. I

mean, I couldn’t believe the testimony we heard a couple of months

ago from Mr. Ose’s District along San Diego. San Diego had a meth

epidemic.

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We were in Louisiana and heard incredible testimony of the

meth coming now into the New Orleans area.

In Dallas, TX, for Mr. Vitter, we held a hearing there. They told

us there were 1,000 meth lab seizures in Oklahoma and the northern part of Texas.

Are these figures accurate?

Mr. KEEFE. I would have to get you that information. I’m sure

DEA has that information. We certainly can get it for you, Mr.

Chairman.

Mr. MICA. I see we have this Operation Tar Pit to go after the

black-tar heroin now that we are seeing an explosion of. What

about meth? Do we have a similar operation for meth, and Mexican

meth, in particular?

Mr. KEEFE. We have numerous investigations, joint investigations, going on right as we speak, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MICA. Again, this is a different dimension. We know that

black-tar heroin is being produced in Mexico, and Mexico feels we

can identify it by your signature analysis program. Now we have

not only the hard meth coming in, the product coming in, but we’ve

got them producing, using the United States and these venues I’ve

just described as production facilities in smaller labs.

Do we have an effort to go after these people and trace them

back? And many of them, we’re getting reports, again, are illegals

who shouldn’t be here in the first place.

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir. Sir, if I could just explain, as far as the

number of labs go you referred to in different parts of the country.

Mr. MICA. Right.

Mr. KEEFE. A lot of those were referred to, as we call them, for

lack of a better term, ‘‘Mom and Pop labs,’’ which are very small,

produce maybe an ounce. A pound would be large. These are usually not Mexican national organized crime groups involved with

these labs.

Mr. MICA. Again, I’ve got to tell you, from Iowa, and the law enforcement folks told us that Mexican illegals are involved with the

actual production. Trafficking is one thing, and I just described to

you after your video that they had set up a sophisticated operation

with auto parts, set up a store front, and were putting in the hard

product. Now it shifts to production domestically. Bringing a hard

product in is one problem, and we are discussing that as it transits

the border here, but now we are seeing a new phase of this.

I know there are many, many Mom and Pop, but we’re also seeing bigger producers, Mexican gang initiated.

Mr. KEEFE. Agree 100 percent. What we would say at DEA, what

we would see is that 10 percent of the clandestine labs in the

United States are involved with Mexican traffickers, which are responsible for 85 percent of the methamphetamine in the United

States. So the labs that we see the Mexican nationals involved in

in the United States are what we call these ‘‘super labs,’’ which

would be capable of making more than 10 pounds at a time.

We see primarily most of those labs to date in the California

area, and the traffickers as you referred to in Sioux City and those

areas in the midwest, it is being transported across the United

States to those organizations for distribution.

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I’m not saying that there aren’t Mexican labs in the midwest, sir.

At this time, DEA has not seen as we refer to the super labs. We

see more Mom and Pops, which, as you mentioned, are a tremendous concern for those areas because of the financial problems in

the cost to clean up those 1,000 labs, whether it is the Mexicans

involved with the production or the Mom and Pop labs. It is still

a tremendous law enforcement concern that is costing millions of

dollars to clean up the problem.

Mr. MICA. You also testified about payment in cocaine, this bartering.

Mr. KEEFE. Yes, sir.

Mr. MICA. Can you describe for the subcommittee a little bit

more of what new pattern we are seeing?

Mr. KEEFE. What we used to see in the early 1990’s, when the

Colombians started to work through the Mexicans, they used to

pay the Mexicans for transportation so much money per kilo to get

the cocaine into the United States. Let’s use, back in the days

when they were sending it in to Los Angeles, for instance, they

would send it into Los Angeles. Once it was successfully delivered

into Los Angeles, the Mexicans would return the drugs to the Colombian traffickers in the United States for distribution across the

United States.

The Colombians have now relinquished a lot of that to the Mexicans, and instead of paying them per kilograms they share with

them. If it is a load, for instance, of 1,000 kilos, for example, coming into the United States, they will give, part of their agreement,

500 kilos to the Mexicans for the Mexicans to distribute, and then

the Colombians will take their part and distribute it in those areas,

primarily the East Coast for those. So the profit margin for the

Mexicans, as you can imagine, has grown tremendously by doing

business this way.

Mr. MICA. Yes. Let me go back to our Border Patrol representative. One of the problems that we have had is corruption on the

Mexican side of the border, and we are hearing that it is becoming

more and more difficult to deal with Mexican officials because of

the corruption element. Have you had a problem in that regard?

Mr. BARKER. Normally it does not affect us in terms of narcotics

investigation because that is turned over to DEA. Most of the relationship that we have is to obtain information and to obtain cooperation that when something occurs on this side of the border

and the person flees Mexico that we have some way to get him

back or to apprehend the person. But in terms of investigation of

narcotics, no, because we don’t do the investigation.

Alien smuggling is almost non-existent, and those are the larger

investigations that we do.

The cooperation is basically exchange of information, have a cooperative environment, but it does not translate to investigations.

Mr. MICA. With your Border Patrol agents—I know DEA and

Customs and others interdict more of the drugs, but what are your

agents seeing out there as far as drugs coming across the border?

More? Less? And what kinds of narcotics?

Mr. BARKER. It is more, and the majority of our seizures is related to marijuana. They are using backpackers a lot more than they

did before. They are breaking the loads down in smaller quantities

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and using more backpackers just to make sure that if it is caught

they do not lose a great quantity of their drugs.

It has changed over the last few years. Probably about 5 or 6

years ago we saw them floating maybe a ton of marijuana across

the border. They do not do that any more. They use backpackers,

horseback riders in remote locations, and in some cases backpackers go for 10, 20 miles to deliver the goods. They do it over a period

of days to a specified location where it is picked up.

So we are seeing the proliferation of use of backpackers, also in

the tunnels and, in El Paso, the drainage system. They are packaging the marijuana so they can fit through 18-inch tunnels to get

them to the place of distribution.

Mr. MICA. I’ve flown over the border in some of the patrol surveillance planes, and that’s a pretty big border, so it sounds like

that is creating an even greater problem for you when they break

down the loads in this manner; is that correct?

Mr. BARKER. Yes, sir. But we have ways to respond to that. We

have been the beneficiary of some of the cameras that allow us to

see greater areas.

The other thing that we do is we have agents that are experienced trackers, and normally they will check these remote locations

to look for the telltale sign of people smuggling drugs, because they

can tell the difference, generally, between a person who is leading

aliens across as a smuggler of aliens or a person who is backpacking narcotics, and they are very good at that and they track these

people.

The one thing that it gives us, it gives us a better opportunity

to catch them because of the time that it would take for them to

get from the border, the intended destination. And we have many

ways of doing that.

Judge FURGESON. Mr. Chairman, you mentioned cameras. I get

a lot of cases with sensors. There are sensors all along the border

used by the Border Patrol, and those sensors pick up a lot of traffic.

Mr. MICA. Well, we are trying to get the most sophisticated

equipment available and resources, both manpower and also assisting Customs and DEA and others, and technology to deal with the

problem.

One of the things that we have seen, and I think also in this

video, we also conducted a hearing just on drugs through package

service and the mail. Is DEA and Customs seeing, again, more sophisticated, legitimate use of legitimate transport for moving drugs

around the country? Is that what you are seeing, Mr. Logan?

Mr. LOGAN. Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. The courier services, the

FedExs, the UPSs, when it absolutely, positively has to be there,

you can access your package departure in arrival zones on the

Internet. I’m confident that DEA is tracking that domestically.

They’ve got some terrific cases going on in San Diego. UPS in San

Diego, for example, once the narcotics are successfully smuggled in,

that was one of the largest warehouses on most of narcotics because they were being shipped out of the UPS warehouses in Chula

Vista. DEA was highly successful in an interagency State and local

effort to track those packages and deliver them.

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Mr. MICA. Mr. Logan, can you provide the subcommittee with an

update on anything relating to status of Arellano-Felix, the brothers that we have been after?

Mr. LOGAN. Well, Customs is part of a larger operation with the

FBI and DEA on the Arellano-Felix organization, and certainly we

are frustrated that those fugitives have not been found or located.

Customs continues to provide manpower, along with DEA and FBI,

State, and locals to work every lead that we can. Certainly it is our

judgment that narcotics that’s transiting in the Baja area, there is

a toll taken, the tax by the area on the Felix organization.

Interesting side light, with Tar Pit we don’t believe, that according to the DEA SAC in San Diego, Errol Chavez, that they were

paying a toll, because they were able to keep the amounts and the

black-tar heroin coming through those areas with a very low profile, so we were unaware of any toll being taxed by the Arellanos

in the black tar.

Joe may have some additional on that, but that was our sense

in San Diego.

Mr. MICA. Do you have anything on that, Mr. Keefe?

Mr. KEEFE. As Mr. Logan said, we did not see this group out of

Nayarit connected at all to the Arellano-Felix. We saw them totally

independent, right from the production, the growth of the opium,

right through the distribution into the United States.

Mr. MICA. What do they call that? Integrated——

Mr. KEEFE. Vertical integration.

Mr. MICA. A vertical integration operation.

Well, I appreciate each of you coming forward today. Our subcommittee is trying to put together a coherent policy to deal with

this problem.

As I said last night, we made some great progress. We know that

most of these narcotics are produced in Colombia. Now we are seeing for the first time a dramatic increase of heroin production in

Mexico, but which gives us another challenge and front to deal

with, particularly given the level of corruption that we have had

testimony relating to the problems, again, in Mexico.

Now the violence in Mexico—now we hear about vertically integrated operations to produce this, coupled with the new activity

with methamphetamine. That presents us with a pretty serious

challenge.

Unfortunately, I think it is going to take even more violence in

Mexico to get their attention and cooperation, and, unfortunately,

they are seeing that, too, at unprecedented levels. Maybe at the

election they are having there will be some change and the emphasis placed on the domestic threat that poses for Mexico, and certainly the threat and problems it has created in the United States.

Again, I want to thank all of you. I apologize. As I said, we were

up voting until 2. There is no lack of interest in this subject. We

probably will submit additional questions to you for the record,

since we don’t have a full membership of this subcommittee here,

and we would like your response, if possible.

Again, we appreciate your cooperation today.

There being no further business or questions at this time, we’ll

excuse this panel.

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Our second panel this morning consists of two witnesses. The

first witness is Chief Fabienne Brooks with the criminal investigations division of the King County Sheriffs Department in Seattle,

WA. The second witness is Mr. Mario Medina. Mr. Medina’s family,

unfortunately, has experienced tragedy along the Chimayo, NM,

border and will testify about that situation that so dramatically affected their family.

We will just stand in recess for about 2 minutes.

[Recess.]

Mr. MICA. We’ll call the subcommittee back to order and again

welcome Chief Brooks and Mr. Medina.

I’ll call first on Chief Brooks, who is with the criminal investigations division of King County Sheriffs Department, Seattle, WA.

Before I do that, let me say that we are an investigations and

oversight subcommittee of Congress, and we must swear you in as

you provide testimony to our subcommittee, so if you’d stand and

raise your right hands.

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. MICA. The witnesses answered in the affirmative. We will

now recognize Chief Brooks with the King County Sheriffs Department from Seattle, WA.

Welcome. You are recognized.

STATEMENTS OF CHIEF FABIENNE BROOKS, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION, KING COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, SEATTLE, WA; AND MARIO MEDINA, FAMILY VICTIM,

CHIMAYO, NM

Ms. BROOKS. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of the

King County sheriff, Dave Reichert, I am very honored to be here

this morning to speak with you on the topic of black-tar heroin.

My name is Fabienne Brooks and I am the chief of the criminal

investigations division for the King County Sheriffs Office. I have

already submitted my testimony.

Mr. MICA. Without objection, your entire statement will be made

part of the record, and please proceed.

Ms. BROOKS. OK. I will summarize it.

Mr. MICA. Go right ahead.

Ms. BROOKS. Just briefly, informationally, King County is the

largest metropolitan county in Washington State in terms of population, number of cities, and employment. It is the 12th most populous county in the United States, and the King County Sheriffs Office, with over 1,000 employees, is the third-largest police agency

in the State of Washington and 13th largest sheriffs office in the

United States.

King County is an area that poses many attractive attributes for

the distribution of heroin. It is the home of a major international

airport, it is the hub of passenger and commercial rail and bus

lines, and it has significant highway systems, not the least of

which is I–5, which runs from the Mexican border up through Canada. We have a significant population, and thus it is a large customer base for this type of drug.

King County is ranked as high as third in the Nation in heroin

use in the recent past, and this is evidenced by a large and established user population.

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Just about 95 percent of the heroin used in King County has

been identified as Mexican black-tar heroin. Drugs are secreted in

or inside persons willing to bring these drugs into the area for a

fee. They are hidden inside commercial trains or freight trucks

crossing into the United States. We think much of the heroin

reaching our area comes in vehicles, as you heard from earlier testimony.

In 1998 we arrested what is known as a ‘‘cell leader,’’ which is

a person who oversees a communication or a distribution network,

with 9 pounds of black-tar heroin. This arrived in just one load

from Mexico. The load was secreted inside a specially made metal

box that was contoured to fit inside an engine block of a car. Once

the car arrived, it was driven into a garage, where the engine was

dismantled and the heroin was removed.

We believe this particular leader had been in business since the

mid-1980’s, and he would receive a load this size about once to

twice a month.

As with many organized crime groups operating in an area,

crime also accompanies the activities of heroin dealers, and this

ranges from homicides to minor thefts committed by users. Of the

people incarcerated in the King County jail, 60 percent are there

on drug-related charges, not necessarily just heroin, but on drugrelated charges.

Several years ago, the King County Sheriff’s Office recovered a

baby that had been stolen from a family whose father was thought

to be connected to the sales of drugs. The baby was to be held for

ransom until the father paid the suspect.

The family reluctantly called the police and the child was safely

reunited with the family and suspects arrested after a brief pursuit.

So, in addition to being ranked third in a use of heroin nationwide, King County has also been ranked as third for heroin

overdoses, and that is what makes this area consider itself to be

in an epidemic stage.

The 1998 rate of heroin-related deaths had grown 200 percent

over the previous 8 years. The reason for the deaths is the purity

of the Mexican heroin, which we have tested to be between 60 to

80 percent pure.

Because of the geographical condensing of the people, street dealing in heroin is more prevalent in this community in our area and

it provides a unique law enforcement problem for the Seattle Police

Department. They have collected data that shows users come in

from outside the area to buy heroin, and a large number of the

buyers travel in areas of King County to get there.

The strategies of the drug dealers, which was not talked about

earlier, is that they use commercial airlines, they use produce

trucks, they use passenger vehicles, and one of the ways they set

up locations in our community, we’ve discovered, is that they arrange to rent a house that has a garage, and then they hire someone to take care of their home so that it doesn’t arouse suspicion

by the neighbors so that it doesn’t appear neglected, and they act

like quiet, no-problem neighbors, oftentimes picking locations on

dead ends where it is hard to surveil and hard to pay attention to

the traffic.

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They hire neighbors perhaps to watch the house for safety reasons and to get information on strange cars that may be seen in

the area. Sort of a neighborhood block watch in reverse.

They can also arrange for a vehicle repair business. This is what

they do, as well.

The challenges for the King County Sheriffs Office and law enforcement in our area is because we are so diverse and large with

the different number of police agencies involved that there is a

high need for inter-agency communication. Just because the heroin

is purchased in one area doesn’t necessarily mean that it is going

to stay in that area. There are multiple routes. We are one of only

three States that doesn’t have two-party consent. I mean, we do not

have one-party consent in our State. I apologize for that error.

What we are doing in King County is participating in a countywide heroin initiative task force that has brought together representatives of all groups associated with this problem—care providers, health care people, fire department, police agencies, treatment providers—looking at the heroin problem from treatment and

prevention to enforcement. And we are also involved in the northwest HIDTA Drug Task Force in our area.

So, in summary, I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to address you, and I will be happy to answer questions.

Mr. MICA. Thank you for your testimony.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Brooks follows:]

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Mr. MICA. We will get to questions in just a few minutes.

I am pleased now to recognize Mr. Medina. I appreciate your

coming forward and providing us with your testimony and your

personal experience. I know you had a tragedy in your family.

At this time, if you could, sir, describe what has taken place and

the, again, horrible effects on your family to the subcommittee.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. MEDINA. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I’m going to read a

brief part of my statement here.

Mr. MICA. Take your time. Again, we appreciate your coming forward.

Mr. MEDINA. Sure. My family had to deal with this very problem.

My sister passed away from a drug overdose. My only sister is now

dead and I am left an only child. Instead of my parents retiring at

the age of 65, they are now raising their two granddaughters as

their own children. My nieces, who are now 13 and 11, ask questions as to why God took their mother. These are results caused

by drugs in society.

Mr. MICA. Thank you. I appreciate your, again, coming before us

today.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Medina follows:]

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Mr. MICA. Let me first turn, if I may, to Ms. Brooks, if that concludes your testimony.

Mr. MEDINA. Yes, it does.

Mr. MICA. I will start with several questions. First of all, you

said your area is third in the United States in heroin overdoses;

is that correct?

Ms. BROOKS. That’s correct.

Mr. MICA. And you said there was a 200 percent increase in

deaths, heroin overdose deaths. What period was that for?

Ms. BROOKS. From 1990 through 1998.

Mr. MICA. From 1990 to——

Ms. BROOKS. Over a 4-year period, yes.

Mr. MICA. And that continues? You’re seeing a continuation of

the same type of problem?

Ms. BROOKS. Exactly. I don’t have the information for 1999 statistics, but they estimated that the number of deaths was on the

increase.

Mr. MICA. One of the things that we have tried to do—and we

do have oversight over the HIDTAs, the high-intensity drug trafficking area designation, is to provide resources to areas that have

been impacted. I’m afraid we may have to declare the United

States a HIDTA before this is over. But how are the resources that

are being provided by the Federal Government being utilized? Are

they adequate? Are they properly utilized? Is it just a lack of not

getting additional assistance? Is this effective use of our Federal

tax dollars? Could you give us your insight?

Ms. BROOKS. Well, it certainly is an effective use of our tax dollars in terms of attacking the drug problem. We have a close working relationship with the HIDTA Task Force and I have an investigator assigned to that task force to help focus on drug investigations in King County.

Federal rules allow for a different level of investigation of drug

dealers.

Mr. MICA. Yes.

Ms. BROOKS. Part of the information that we get comes from

neighborhoods and phone calls. That doesn’t necessarily rise to the

level of Federal investigation. So, while the money from HIDTA

goes to Federal-level investigations, local law enforcement sort of

has to keep doing with the funding that they have.

Local law enforcement block grants for collaborative efforts on

the local law enforcement level would provide additional resources

for us to be able to look into the problem and to approach the problem.

Mr. MICA. Did I hear you describe to the subcommittee a situation with black-tar heroin has reached an epidemic proportion in

that region, or your locale?

Ms. BROOKS. Heroin use has reached an epidemic proportion, and

95 percent of it is black-tar heroin.

Mr. MICA. You said 95 percent?

Ms. BROOKS. Right.

Mr. MICA. That’s an incredible figure.

Ms. BROOKS. Right.

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Mr. MICA. Our subcommittee has been as far as Sacramento. We

have not been to your jurisdiction. But that is alarming. And most

of it is coming in transited over I–5, you said, through couriers?

Ms. BROOKS. Through couriers, yes. I mean, there are some airplanes, but——

Mr. MICA. It has also made your area, now that you have the

narcotics, sort of a magnet for attracting additional users and

criminal activity.

Ms. BROOKS. Exactly.

Mr. MICA. Do you think we can handle this by just spending

more money on treatment and giving up the enforcement?

Ms. BROOKS. I don’t think we should give up the enforcement

piece of it. There is always going to be a need for the enforcement

part. I think adding more resources for an overall holistic approach

to it would help reduce the level, but if you just put money on

treatment then the enforcement goes lacking.

Mr. MICA. Basically, you are drowning in this stuff.

Ms. BROOKS. Yes.

Mr. MICA. The sheer quantities that are coming in.

Ms. BROOKS. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Medina, your sister died a tragic death. What did

she die from?

Mr. MEDINA. Ingestion of black-tar heroin.

Mr. MICA. Where did that heroin come from?

Mr. MEDINA. To my knowledge, I——

Mr. MICA. There’s only one place that I know it is produced.

That’s Mexico.

Mr. MEDINA. I guess so.

Mr. MICA. Unfortunately, your family’s situation I understand

was repeated some 80-plus times in the community you came from.

Is that correct?

Mr. MEDINA. That’s in 1 year.

Mr. MICA. In 1 year?

Mr. MEDINA. It repeated itself in 1 year 80 times.

Mr. MICA. So she isn’t alone in losing her life to this deadly narcotic. Was she involved in criminal activity, or——

Mr. MEDINA. Not that we know of.

Mr. MICA. And I believe she also was the victim of a very high

content, high purity content black-tar heroin.

Mr. MEDINA. Yes, she was.

Mr. MICA. And you said she left behind two children?

Mr. MEDINA. Yes, she did.

Mr. MICA. What has been the effect on your family?

Mr. MEDINA. Pretty much just a family affected as drugs as far

as the small community we live in. Just about every family has

been affected in one way or another, whether it be a friend, a relative, a close sibling. It has affected everyone.

Mr. MICA. Well, you know, I’m one of the Federal elected officials. We are only temporary representatives here trying to figure

out ways to establish policy to keep this from happening. You were

kind enough to come and tell us about your tragedy. What is your

recommendation to us? Should we give this up? As a human being

who has probably been inflicted with a tremendous amount of pain,

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what is your recommendation to Congress, to me and others who

set this policy?

Mr. MEDINA. My recommendation would be to try and stop the

problem before it starts. Pretty much I know a lot of users in the

community that I live in, and I think you need to get the people

before they start using the drug.

Mr. MICA. Once they have become a user, our statistics show a

70 percent failure rate with public treatment programs. Did your

sister go through any treatment program?

Mr. MEDINA. No.

Mr. MICA. Alright. Then she wasn’t a habitual user?

Mr. MEDINA. She used about maybe 8 months.

Mr. MICA. So she was addicted for 8 months?

Mr. MEDINA. Yes.

Mr. MICA. And then died of an overdose?

Mr. MEDINA. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Do you know others in the community that have been

similar—— Mr. MEDINA. I know many.

Mr. MICA. How big is Chimayo?

Mr. MEDINA. It is approximately about 3,000 in population.

Mr. MICA. It’s 3,000 and you had 85 deaths?

Mr. MEDINA. Yes. But that’s actually like Rio Arriba County,

which is not a southern town. It is actually a northern county in

New Mexico. But it is actually traveling the whole county now. It

is not just Chimayo.

Mr. MICA. So you think we should continue our efforts to keep

this stuff from coming across our borders?

Mr. MEDINA. I think the effort needs to put more not in treatment but in stopping people from using the first time.

Mr. MICA. Going after the people who are dealing in this death.

Have the people who gave your sister the narcotics been located?

Mr. MEDINA. Not to my knowledge.

Mr. MICA. So basically her death has gone unavenged?

Mr. MEDINA. Yes. Pretty much.

Mr. MICA. Well, again, we appreciate your coming forward and

giving our subcommittee your testimony, your personal experience.

There were 15,973 that died in 1998 as a direct result of illegal

narcotics and drug overdoses. Therefore, the number is growing

and growing. We don’t have the 1999 figures, and we are losing

more than we lost in some of our wars as a result of these narcotics.

The testimony you have provided, Ms. Brooks, shows us another

spot on the chart and the national map of a very serious problem.

Any other recommendations you might have for this subcommittee

on how to deal with this problem? Again, as a local official we seek

your input on how we can do a better job.

Ms. BROOKS. In just listening to Mr. Medina, one of the areas I

think we need to focus on is education, because the young kids

have the perception of heroin being the person who uses the thing

around your arm and you inject it, but they aren’t injecting it, so

they don’t think it is a big problem, and they think that they can

use it once and that’s fine. Well, statistics show that that doesn’t

happen, and I think if we can put more focus on educating and letVerDate 11-MAY-2000 12:03 Jun 13, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00086 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\72582.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1
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ting people know the extent of the problem and what the ramifications of it are for the young people it may be able to deter them

from using it.

Mr. MICA. One of the things that we’ve done in Congress is we’ve

started a program. It is the most extensive in the history of the

U.S. Government, really, as far as drug education and media attention to the problem, that’s our national media campaign. It is over

$1 billion plus matched by $1 billion locally, and that has been in

effect a little over a year now. Unfortunately, we are getting back

mixed reviews on its effectiveness. What is your observation, Ms.

Brooks?

Ms. BROOKS. Personally, I have to admit I haven’t seen it, and

I watch TV a lot. I’m not quite sure where the message is going,

if it is going to the right people.

Mr. MICA. That disturbs me, because you obviously have a target

area. You are third in the Nation.

Ms. BROOKS. Yes.

Mr. MICA. We are spending $1 billion and requiring another $1

billion in contributions, and you haven’t seen the program.

We’re going to have the drug czar in here, I think July 11th, and

do another review of the program, not to give the drug czar a hard

time, but when we have an area like your community that is experiencing, again, dramatic increases in deaths and abuse and trafficking, and we don’t have even you, being aware of that program,

or it being targeted to there, we obviously have a problem.

Mr. Medina, have you seen any of the ads or efforts to educate?

Mr. MEDINA. Pretty much the same old clinics and, you know,

the methadone and these high-dollar rehabs, which I think is more

a private industry, moneymaking situation. Other than that, that’s

about all.

Mr. MICA. I think I would have to share your opinion. It has

turned into a cottage industry, and again, people aren’t aware of

it, but we have doubled since 1992 the amount of money in treatment, Even since the new majority, we’ve increased the money for

treatment some 26 percent in 41⁄2, 5 years here, and the numbers

who are addicted are dramatically increasing, and particularly

among our young people.

How old was your sister, Mr. Medina?

Mr. MEDINA. She was 31 at the time.

Mr. MICA. Thirty-one. Pretty much destroyed her life, and I’m

sure the effects on your family have been dramatic.

I don’t think there is a family in the country that hasn’t been affected today. I give these speeches on Tuesday nights, usually, the

special orders, and talk for an hour on the drug problem, and as

I left last week, one of the clerks who followed me out at midnight

said, ‘‘Mr. Mica, my son is 21,’’ I think he said, ‘‘and the last year

or two he has been on drugs,’’ and his family has been through a

living hell and they can’t find successful treatment. They can’t deal

with the problem. Unfortunately, we are hearing that repeatedly

across the land. It continues to be something that is an incredible

challenge for us.

Sort of in closing, Ms. Brooks, the enforcement and prosecution

levels in some States are not as tough as the Federal minimum

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mandatories. What is the situation in your State? Are your State

laws tougher or are the Federal laws tougher?

Ms. BROOKS. I believe the Federal laws are tougher in our State.

Mr. MICA. And would you recommend to the subcommittee— again, I am under tremendous pressure. We’ve held a hearing on

lowering the minimum mandatories or abolishing them, and we get

criticized for having them. We have allowed flexibility and, some,

again, relief and flexibility to judges. What is your recommendation

to the panel?

Ms. BROOKS. My recommendation, in terms of the mandatory

minimums, are to work toward increasing those minimums on the

State level so that they match what the Federal levels are.

Mr. MICA. Well, that would be something you would have to do

with Washington, but—— Ms. BROOKS. Well, I would recommend that they stay where they

are.

Mr. MICA. At the Federal level?

Ms. BROOKS. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Yes. And you, again, see that as some type of a deterrent or effective way to deal with the problem?

Ms. BROOKS. That’s one way to deal with the problem. I think,

again, it needs to be an approach that includes treatment providers

as well as punishment, because, unfortunately, once people get addicted they feel like they have to—well, they do commit crimes to

continue their habits, and if we can treat them for that issue—— Mr. MICA. And separating them out—— Ms. BROOKS. And separating them out—— Mr. MICA [continuing]. Between people who are addicted and

committing crimes and people who are trafficking or dealing in

deadly quantities.

Ms. BROOKS. Exactly.

Mr. MICA. What about prosecution? Are you all going after, at

the local level, the traffickers and dealers primarily, or are you focused on just the users?

Ms. BROOKS. We are focusing primarily on the dealers. There are

certainly users that we target, but we focus on the mid-level dealers who are distributing the heroin.

In King County, 1997 we had prosecutions to over 3,000. In 1998,

it went up to 3,200. I don’t have the 1999 statistics, but it was believed that it would be about at that same level, so we are still

prosecuting and it is increasing.

Mr. MICA. And you said over 60 percent of those in your jails,

local jails, are there because of drug-related offenses?

Ms. BROOKS. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Are they there for a felony or for misdemeanors or

combination? Again, how would you describe the people who end up

incarcerated, small-time users?

Ms. BROOKS. I don’t have the information in terms of if the 60

percent are primarily felonies or misdemeanors, but I can tell you

they are in there for a variety of reasons, from the petty shoplifts

up to the major burglaries and assaults.

Mr. MICA. But you would say that crime is a result of their—— Ms. BROOKS. The crime is a result of their addiction.

Mr. MICA [continuing]. Addiction?

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Ms. BROOKS. Yes.

Mr. MICA. Well, we appreciate your testimony before this subcommittee.

Mr. Medina, we also appreciate your coming before us.

Did you have any final comments or recommendations? Again, I

know you came a long way, but it is important that we focus on

this problem, and we don’t want another individual lost in our

country or family affected the way you have had a horrible tragedy

occur, so again we thank you for coming, for being a part of this.

I thank both of you.

On July 11th—just an announcement for the subcommittee—we

will have Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey testifying on a second hearing relating to our drug education and national media campaign.

There being no further business to come before this subcommittee, I’d like to excuse these witnesses. Thank you again for coming

forward.

The Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human

Resources is adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 11:44 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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