Law enforcement agencies in the Western Hemisphere seized more than 180 metric tons of cocaine last year with Colombia and Mexico confiscating drugs worth $13 billion on America's streets, the State Department reported Saturday.

But cocaine remains the biggest threat to the nation in its drug war, the report said. The department, in a 468-page report to Congress, said U.S.-bound cocaine seizures reached an all-time high in 1991.Assistant Secretary of State Melvyn Levitsky, who heads the department's international narcotics office, said while important progress was made to fight drug trafficking last year, there is "a long, difficult struggle ahead."

"The effort is continued to be plagued by (overseas) corruption, inefficiencies and lack of political will," he told a small group of reporters. "Victory in the drug war is still a long way away."

The report was released at the end of a week in which President Bush and leaders of six Latin American nations issued a 20-page San Antonio Declaration outlining a strategy for broader efforts to attack the illicit drug industry.

In 1990, Bush met with leaders of Colombia and Bolivia. This time, the group praised the participation of four new nations and urged more countries to get involved in what they say will become an annual anti-drug summit.

"It is essential to confront the drug problem through an integrated approach, addressing demand, cultivation for illicit purposes, production, trafficking, and illegal distribution networks," the agreement said.

View Comments

Levitsky said Americans consume 70 percent of the world's cocaine each year but only about 10 percent of the heroin.

"Not counting U.S. government seizures, Western Hemishere countries seized over 180 metric tons of cocaine," the report said. "Two countries, Colombia and Mexico, seized over 130 metric tons of cocaine, a quantity which would be worth approximately $13 billion on the streets of the United States, more than the total U.S. drug budget."

The report said the United States, in its efforts to curb and eventually end the illegal drug trade, should not only focus on the drug cartels and corrupt officials.

"We must also engage the host governments to transform the economic conditions which impel poor farmers and urban unemployed to seek their fortune in a green gold rush," it said.

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.