DATE=9/24/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BRAZIL-PERU DRUGS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254302
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=
Intro: Brazil and Peru plan to work closer together to
halt the flow of illegal drugs across their common
border. As VOA's Bill Rodgers reports from Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil's anti-drug leader travels to Lima
Monday to sign an anti-drugs accord.
Text: Brazil's national secretary for drug issues,
Walter Maierovitch, says the two nations will now
cooperate more closely by exchanging information and
mounting joint operations to stop drug trafficking. At
a news conference in Brasilia Friday, Mr. Maierovitch
said Peru is doing such a good job of combating the
drug cartels that they are now moving their operations
across the border into Brazil.
He said the western states of Acre and Amazonas have
become transit routes for coca paste produced in Peru
and Bolivia. He said the coca paste is then smuggled
into Colombia where it is refined into cocaine. Mr.
Maierovitch said Indians and gold prospectors are among
those participating in the smuggling.
The Brazilian national secretary for drug issues named
several Peruvian drug cartels believed to be involved
in the trafficking -- including one called the Cartel
of Tio Rios, named after its reputed chief, Antonio
Rios. He said another -- called Cacique Rivera -- is
operating in the city of Tabatinga on the Amazon river,
near where the borders of Brazil, Peru and Colombia
intersect.
Mr. Maierovitch travels to the Peruvian capital Monday,
where he and Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori will
sign the joint cooperation agreement. (Signed)
NEB/WFR/PT
24-Sep-1999 14:53 PM LOC (24-Sep-1999 1853 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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