President Clinton's top anti-drug official said Friday that the United States cannot expect to "find and stop drugs" at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But the official, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who took over the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy March 6, said the government is "absolutely not" ceding control of the 1,933-mile border to drug traffickers.In his first press briefing, McCaffrey, 53, cast doubt on the effectiveness of stopping drugs piecemeal through spot checks by Customs inspectors at border crossing points, especially in a time when truck traffic is burgeoning because of trade restrictions eliminated under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
About 2.8 million trucks rolled across the Southwest border in fiscal 1995, according to the Customs Service. Of those, inspectors examined 23 percent for drugs and uncovered 3,189 pounds.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has criticized the Customs Service for what she said was a 48 percent drop in 1995 cocaine seizures from commercial cargo over 1994.