FBIS4-67239 "jptdd022__l94018"
JPRS-TDD-94-022-L JPRS Narcotics 16 May 1994
LATIN AMERICA MEXICO

`Confidential' PGR Report Assesses Illegal Drug Business

`Confidential' PGR Report Assesses Illegal Drug Business PA1705184494 Mexico City LA JORNADA in Spanish 16 May 94 pp 46, 60 PA1705184494 Mexico City LA JORNADA Spanish BFN [Article by correspondents Salvador Guerrero Chipres and Jesus Aranda and special correspondent Aurelio Garibay] [Text] Tijuana, Baja California, 15 May -- According to estimates made public by the Attorney General's Office (PGR), drug trafficking groups operating in Mexico will receive gross revenues totalling about $30 billion this year--an amount that represents one-sixth of the value of annual cocaine consumption in the United States. According to a confidential report prepared by the PGR and obtained by LA JORNADA, the annual drug market in the United States has expanded from $76 billion to $181 billion. Even the U.S. Senate Narcotics Subcommittee has reported that nearly $100 billion originating from drug trafficking is held in U.S. banks. According to the PGR, "the value of the world's illegal drug market is estimated at close to $500 billion," making it the underground financial sector with "the highest growth rate in the world." Based on figures and documents prepared by the PGR, which have been reported to the president of the republic, and based on forecasts prepared by organizations such as the Hemispheric Information System for Narcotics Control (SHICD), which is "an intelligence network" designed to fight drug trafficking on the continent, it has been established that Mexico's crude oil and non- crude oil export revenues, in addition to the overall value of the nation's manufacturing industry, represent "an amount comparable" to the total gross revenues earned by domestic drug trafficking. However, the portion of these revenues that remains in Mexico "is unknown, although most of it is thought to go overseas." The previously mentioned amount is equivalent to four times the value of 1993 crude oil exports reported by the Bank of Mexico, which amounted to $7.418 billion. In 1992, the federal government warned in a document entitled "Drug Control in Mexico" that resources controlled by narcotics traffickers and their gross revenues are capable of infiltrating any sector: "This calls for special attention in terms of protecting the nation's economy and, more important, the regional economy in order to prevent drug trafficking assets from becoming the nerve center of economic activity." According to the same document, so far in 1994 the total revenues received by criminal organizations amount to nearly four times Mexico's total public and private foreign debt. Although significant, this amount must also be appreciated in terms of the material and human costs associated with operations leading to drug seizures. One kilogram of high-grade cocaine in the U.S. retail market can be bought for a price ranging between $80,000 and $100,000. Nearly 178 tons of cocaine where seized and destroyed during the first four years of this administration. In October 1993, Morelos Governor Jorge Carrilo Olea said: "Drug trafficking has created its own culture, its own social structure, and its own safety controls, and, in some countries, it constitutes an element that influences and weighs heavily on society and the state, even threatening to subjugate them." Mr. Carrillo was at one time in charge of the PGR's Counter-Narcotics Office and also a presidential adviser specializing on drug related issues. He also said: "The principle of profitability and capital return makes this phenomenon very different from other illegal practices. This is a criminal network which, following the pattern of an open and free market, assumes the shape of multinational corporations with a management, organizational, and operational structure that reflect pure business concerns." Carrillo also pointed out that the enormous drive behind drug trafficking includes access to sizable financial assets and the illegal flow of resources that penetrate the economies of developing and consumer countries, as well as those nations that serve as bridges. In addition, there are the widespread international criminal organizations which "in some cases, infiltrate and erode government structures responsible for controlling them," such as has occurred in Mexico, according to a public acknowledgement by PGR authorities. The third element is the constant association between drug trafficking and illegal weapons trafficking, "which constitutes a formidable threat to stability and regional peace, especially in the case of Latin America." It is worth noting that several insurgent movements have been linked by various South American governments to weapons trafficking. Here in Mexico, according to statements by Subcommander Marcos, the weapons used by the EZLN [Zapatista National Liberation Army] were purchased on the black market and include weapons seized by PGR agents from drug traffickers. The PGR has not commented on the rebel's statements. In October 1993, General Carrillo Olea, who is also a former national security director, indicated: "The struggle waged by the police and the military against organized criminal organizations has upset society and shaken the political sector in a very significant way. Therefore, without denying the value of these resources, it is important to examine this carefully and to maintain the firm resolve to restrain its progression. The objective in this war is not to destroy the enemy, because this is impossible. The goal is to keep the enemy under control." He added: "Wars against drugs trafficking expose institutions to ever-increasing risks of corruption. One of the most disappointing lessons of the campaigns waged against global drug trafficking has been to observe how institutions responsible for implementing the law are powerless against internal corruption campaigns staged by the drug lords. All contact with traffickers, even as enemies, increases the possibility of corruption."