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Posted on 12/29/2001 12:14:29 AM PST by Jean S

MATAMOROS, Mexico -- Smuggling has always thrived along the U.S.-Mexico border, where money can buy passage for almost anything.

Now, as the United States beefs up security after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mexico's endemic lawlessness has raised concerns that terrorists could use the country's organized crime networks to stage future attacks against America.

The United States and Mexico are discussing border security, and the two countries are expected to reach an agreement next year, following a recent U.S.-Canada accord to fight terrorism along the U.S. northern frontier.

"Mexico will not be a place of residency for terrorists nor a place of transit," Mexican President Vicente Fox said during a recent trip to Tijuana.

But Fox has struggled to halt widespread corruption and bring down deadly cartels. In December, five federal agents and two state police officers in Reynosa were arrested for working for one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords, Osiel Cardenas.

Drug lords are "so embedded that they run things," said Louis Sadler, a border specialist at New Mexico State University. "They know where the creases are in the border. They know what the odds are of being able to evade a sensory field, balloons, or whatever."

There is no evidence that terrorists have staged attacks against the United States from Mexico. But even without corruption, government officials on both sides of the border have expressed concerns about Mexico's lax security and lawless culture.

Ruben Garza, a regional supervisor for Mexico's Comptroller's office, said there were periods when luggage was moving through X-ray machines at Tijuana's airport with no one watching. Months ago, Mexico took extra security measures at the airport because of its proximity to San Diego.

"Anyone who has the intention of introducing arms or some kind of device to cause harm, can do it with relative ease if they stop and observe the security measures at the airport," he said.

In Ciudad Juarez, Republican congressional members said recently they easily found people offering fake visas.

"We crossed over the border in Mexico, and when we got there we asked the first person we found on the street whether it would be possible to purchase a document in order to get into the United States," Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado said. "Within about one minute, we were able to find such a person. This makes the whole border process, to say the least, difficult."

Mexico's borderlands are home to some of Latin America's most powerful smuggling rings. Over the years, they have infiltrated all levels of government, hiring officials to give them safe passage.

In November, a former immigration agent in Ciudad Juarez was sentenced to 30 months in jail for working for a million-dollar global network that had smuggled hundreds of Iraqis and Palestinians into the United States since 1996.

In September, the former police chief in Mexicali across from Calexico, Calif., was jailed for allegedly warning Mexico's deadly Arellano Felix gang of police operations.

The problem is not just Mexico's. In early December, an El Paso immigration inspector was arrested for allegedly coordinating drug shipments across the Rio Grande.

Sadler said terrorists could use such networks.

"These drug types are just as bad if not worse than Osama bin Laden," Sadler said. "They are cold-blooded killers who care for nothing or nobody and for enough money they can be had."

Yet John Bailey, a Mexico expert at Georgetown University, believes even corrupt officials will draw the line when it comes to terrorism, figuring the risks outweigh the bribes.

"If the rules are spelled out about what it is that Americans are really concerned about, then corruption can coexist with security along the border," he said.

Sadler isn't so sure.

"They might be restrained in the sense of being aware of the fact of what the retaliation factors will be," he said. "But they could also say smuggling people across the border is not the same as destroying the World Trade towers. They could say 'Hey, I didn't know these guys were terrorists.'"

Even Hector Castro, the state police commander in Matamoros across from Brownsville, Texas, believes terrorists could use the border's networks. In early December, Matamoros authorities arrested a migrant smuggler accused of sneaking Pakistanis, eastern Europeans and others into the United States.

"Don't believe all terrorists come through Canada," he said.

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