Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the certification of Mexico as an ally in Americas so called war on drugs. I am here as a past president of the California Narcotic Officers Association (CNOA) representing President Ed Ladd, members of our executive board, and the 7,000 Law enforcement professionals and prosecutors from throughout California that constitute our membership. I am also here as the chairman of the drug policy committee for the National Narcotic Officers Association Coalition (NNOAC), representing 33 state narcotic officers associations and more than 50,000 police officers.

Although I am not an expert in foreign trade or economics, I am a veteran narcotic agent with more than 22 years of service in California. Coming from a border state I have extensive experience in the investigation of Mexican based crime families operating from Mexico and across the United States.

With the end of the cold war, the greatest threat to the security of our nation is drug use. Use that carries with it the misery of addiction, broken families, horrifying violence, school dropout, failed careers and ruined health. The answer to this nations drug problem is a comprehensive approach including treatment, education and strong law enforcement. Enforcement that includes the interdiction of drugs and the arrest of drug violators in source and trans-shipment countries.

Americans, when polled, continue to describe drug use, violent crime, and gangs as their major concerns, and they should be. Quality of life, including living in a safe, drug free environment should be the right of every American.

Through extensive media attention, and the glamorization by Hollywood, most Americans are familiar with the Mafia or "LA Cosa Nostra." They can recite the names of crime families such as the Bonnanos, Columbos, and, Gambinos. What many Americans do not realize is that Mafia’s, operating in Columbia and Mexico pose a much greater threat to their security than any crime group based in this country. The Mafia in America, pales by comparison to the wealth, violence and corruption of Mexico’s major crime families.

As reported by the Drug Enforcement Administration, as much as 70% of the cocaine, 10% of the heroin and large quantities of marijuana, methamphetamine and precursor chemicals enter the United States from Mexico. The 2,000 mile border between Mexico and America makes us particularly vulnerable to drugs smuggled from Mexico. It also makes it easy for the cartels to smuggle their drug profits back to Mexico. Profits, that finance the misery of drug abuse and fuel the bribes that allow the Mexican drug gangs to exist. In 1989, local, state and federal, law enforcement officers seized 21 metric tons of cocaine, and millions of dollars in currency in Sylmar California. These drugs had been smuggled into the United States from Mexico. This dramatic seizure clearly demonstrates the ability of Mexican groups to transport large quantities of drugs into the US and their ability to amass huge profits from their ventures.

Our extensive border with Mexico and the volume of trade that occurs between Mexico and the US make it imperative that we hold the Mexican government responsible to interdict drugs and arrest drug violators in their country. The proximity to the US, endemic corruption, and little or no regulation has combined to make Mexico a money laundering heaven for placement of illegal drug profits into the world's economy. Once funds are wire transferred or smuggled into Mexico they can be transferred anywhere in the world.

It is time to start telling the truth about Mexico and it’s pervasive level of corruption. The problem with certifying Mexico as a drug fighting ally, is that it is not, nor has it ever truly been our ally.

Through corruption and apathy, the Mexican drug Mafia’s have become so wealthy and powerful that they rival the influence of legitimate governments. This power has allowed groups such as the Amado Carrillo-Fuentes, Miguel Caro-Quintero and the Arellano-Felix organization to operate without restrictions. Through intimidation and bribery these groups carry out their criminal activities with little fear of arrest. Most of the leaders of these groups along with those from Mexico’s other crime families are under indictment in the US. The Mexican government however, allows them to move freely across the country to conduct their business. They frequent posh restaurants and nightclubs with little or no concern that they will be arrested. The tentacles of these crime families extend across Mexico, and currently have the US in a strangle hold.

Corruption and intimidation block effective drug enforcement in Mexico. In 1985 DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered while serving this country in Mexico. Kiki had previously been stationed in Fresno California. He was a member of the California Narcotic Officers Association, a dedicated law enforcement officer, a loving father, and a friend. His brutal murder provided us with the first insight into the depth of corruption in Mexico. Members of the Caro-Quintero and Felix-Gallardo organizations that participated in Kiki’s murder are still operating in Mexico today. During testimony before Congress, DEA Administrator Tom Constantine said, "There is not one single law enforcement organization in Mexico in which DEA has an entirely trusting relationship" The arrest of INCD commissioner, General Gutirez-Rebollo indicates the extent of corruption in Mexico. Since his arrest it has been reported that more than 50 persons have disappeared in Mexico in daring kidnappings. Those disappearances have been linked to General Rebollo. In court papers filed in the US by the Mexican government, sources state that the State Attorney General and almost 90% of the law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges in Tijuana and Baja California are on the payroll of the Arellano- Felix organization. These officers routinely protect drug shipment and target police informants and witnesses for murder. Since 1993, twenty-three major drug related assassination have taken place in Mexico. Many of those have occurred in Tijuana adjacent to US borders. In the last year, 12 law enforcement officers have been assassinated in Tijuana. The vast majority of that cities 200 murders are believed to be drug related. The level of violence in Mexico has made it unsafe for DEA agents and other US law enforcement officer to operate in Mexico. To compound maters, the Mexican government has refused to allow DEA agents to be armed while working in their country. It has reached the point that it is unsafe for American tourists to travel in Mexico. In California we have embarked on a statewide campaign to inform American police officers of the danger in traveling to Mexico. They are urged to avoid Mexican travel. If they chose to go south of the border, the are requested to file travel plans with the FBI command post and to check in daily so law enforcement officials have an idea of where to look if they disappear.

For Californians and others living in the Southwest border states, the influence of Mexico’s crime families does not stop at the border. Members of the cartel cross into the United States to transport drugs, steal cars, procure firearms and assassinate enemies of the cartel. The Arellano-Felix organization has hired members of San Diego’s street gangs including the "Calle 30" from Logan Height to carry out assassinations north of the border. At least two recent murders in Coronado California have been directly linked to the Arellano-Felix brothers and their struggle for control of California’s lucrative methamphetamine trade. Because the "San Ysidro gate" is the busiest border crossing in the world, trucks cars and individuals carrying drugs can easily infiltrate with legitimate travelers .The explosive's growth of Tijuana has given the cartel a ready market for laundering illicit drug money.

California now has the distinction of being the "source country "for methamphetamine. This powerful stimulant is rapidly becoming the drug of choice for the Southwest and much of the rest of the country. Hospital emergency room mentions related to the use of the drug have skyrocketed. In recent studies, much of the child abuse and other family violence in California can be attributed to methamphetamine users. The violence and paranoia caused by the drug is notorious. In one case an Arizona man, traveling in New Mexico, hacked his young sons head off and threw it from the car window while his other son looked on. The man was found to be under the influence of methamphetamine. Some of this powerful drug is manufactured in Mexico and smuggled into the US but the vast majority is manufactured in California in clandestine labs operated by components of Mexico’s organized crime families. According to DEA, 80% of the nations methamphetamine can be attributed to Mexican Cartels. It is becoming the drug of choice for Mexican crime families because they can keep 100% of the profits, without having to share with other drug source or shipment countries.

In 1996 the California Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement seized 800 methamphetamine labs; that was up from 435 labs in 1995. What they do not seize is large quantities of drugs profits. That is because they are smuggled back into Mexico. In case after case that I have supervised, we arrest the laborers operating the labs and distribution groups without ever touching the kingpins. That is because they are operating from the safety of Mexico. What we do seize is wire transfer receipts and drug ledgers indicating that drug assets have been shipped back to Mexico. We also seize photographs of opulent villas in Mexico that reportedly belong to the drug kingpins. Clear evidence of the millions of American dollars being sent to Mexico to support the lavish lifestyle of the drug lords. Law enforcement is unable to arrest the kingpins in these groups because they operate their manufacturing and polydrug distribution networks from the relative safety of Mexico. It should be clear that drugs distributed by Mexican crime families pose a serious threat to all Americans and our way of life. Along with drugs, come the related gang wars, violence, weapons violations money laundering and other crime.

It should be clear that the Mexican government has not made an honest effort to eliminate the powerful drug Mafia’s. If they had, the majority of the 1250 agents fired during the past two years, by Mexico’s Attorney General for corruption would be in jail. The indicted heads of Mexico’s crime families would be in custody and enroute to the US for trial. We would not have to report that Mexico has not extradited one single drug trafficker to the US. Mexico’s money laundering statutes would not be going unused. The Mexican government would not have to report that 90% of the Baja California police officers , judges and prosecutors were owned by the Arellano-Felix organization. Good faith efforts would have been made to increase the salaries of Mexican police officers to reduce the temptation of corruption. And a recent US General Accounting Office (GAO) report, would not have to be quoted saying that since 1993 Mexican law enforcement officials have seized half as many drugs and arrested 1/3 fewer traffickers than in previous years, despite the ever increasing amount of drugs that flow from Mexico into the US. In closing, I would urge you to consider taking a courageous stance to decertify Mexico without exemptions. I urge this on behalf of the 7,000 CNOA and 50,000 NNOAC members that I represent along with all the men and women of law enforcement that risk their lives each day to stop the flow of drugs in this country. I urge it in the memory of the 51 California peace officers that have lost their lives since 1965 enforcing narcotic laws and more importantly I urge decertification as the father of two young children, who’s future means everything in the world to me.

Thank you.