DON BOHNING
             Herald Staff Writer

             PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- U.S. officials estimate cocaine trafficking through
             Haiti increased by 17 percent last year, with virtually all of the shipments heading
             for the United States and Europe.

             The reasons are clear: geography, poverty, government paralysis, a disbanded
             parliament, a dysfunctional criminal justice system, a largely unprotected coastline
             and an understaffed and inexperienced police force with limited resources.

             According to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, these factors have converted
             Haiti into ``an ideal target and staging area for the large and sophisticated
             international drug trafficking syndicates.''

             ``From an interdiction and judicial point of view, Haiti might be considered the
             weakest link in the Caribbean chain,'' says an unofficial United Nations report.

             U.S. officials estimate 54 metric tons of cocaine went through Haiti in 1998, a 17
             percent increase over 1997. The estimates are based largely on the amount of
             cocaine that is seized, which provides a basis for determining the volume of overall
             traffic, and on various intelligence sources

             Much of the cocaine is taken to Haiti's southern peninsula by so-called ``go-fast''
             boats, which can make the trip in as little as 10 hours from Colombia under the
             proper weather conditions. Commercial airline flights from Panama are another
             source of substantial cocaine shipments.

             Much of the cocaine then crosses the border into the Dominican Republic, with
             which Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola, and then on to Puerto Rico, safely in
             U.S. territory. Officials say other loads make their way directly by container or
             cargo vessels -- often from Haiti's north coast -- and aircraft into South Florida
             and Europe.

             ``The drug trade on Hispaniola is under control of the Dominicans who, in close
             partnership with the Colombians, use Haitian territory to import and stockpile
             drugs,'' says the U.N. report, which was compiled by the Caribbean Drug Control
             Coordination Mechanism.

             So concerned has Washington been with Haiti's emergence as a major drug
             country that the Drug Enforcement Agency presence in Haiti has been boosted
             from one to seven agents over the past year.

             Assistance expanded

             In 1998, according to U.S. officials, DEA technical assistance was expanded to
             include polygraph testing of the new police counter-narcotics unit. Other
             developments include an agreement on a new Joint Intelligence Coordination
             Center, reduction of cocaine flowing through the Port-au-Prince airport by
             DEA-mentored task forces, and targeting of the seaport for spot checks.

             Washington's concern was further reflected in the Feb. 26 release of the State
             Department's annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report assessing the
             cooperation of 28 major drug-producing and drug transitting countries.

             Haiti and Paraguay were the only countries in this hemisphere to receive
             ``conditional'' certification -- essentially, a waiver -- which means the countries
             failed to meet certification requirements but will not be sanctioned. This, say U.S.
             officials, ``accommodates U.S. concern over the need to strengthen Haitian
             anti-drug laws and enforcement while continuing to support Haiti's fragile
             economy.''

             Police cooperation

             While critical of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, U.S. officials still
             say they are getting full cooperation from the country's two top law enforcement
             officials -- Robert Manuel, secretary of state for security in the Justice Ministry,
             and Pierre Denize, director general of the 6,300-member Haitian National Police,
             the only law enforcement agency in a rugged country of eight million people.

             Denize, in an interview, says he doesn't know the numbers but what ``everybody
             seems to agree upon is that there is high-intensity drug trafficking on this territory.''

             That, says Denize, is a logical assumption, given the fact that Haiti is an island
             ``basically across the street from exporting nations and our capacity to monitor our
             coast, our frontiers, is very limited.''

             ``There is a lot of trafficking going on here,'' he acknowledges.

             Denize said efforts have been made over the past three years to improve Haiti's
             monitoring of the frontier, including enlisting a 96-member Coast Guard and a
             25-member counter-narcotics unit.

             Limited resources

             ``The improvements are noteworthy,'' says Denize, but adds that ``the missing
             parts are just as noteworthy. The Haitian Coast Guard, for all of this coastline, has
             four Boston Whalers and a refurbished 40-foot Haitian army Coast Guard cutter.''

             While transshipment is the biggest problem, Denize says there are clear indications
             of money laundering, particularly in real estate.

             ``I think the prices of real estate, both in acquisition and rental, are very deeply
             affected by the economics of drug trafficking. What we have is an overwhelming
             activity in terms of money laundering, where a house is worth $50,000 and a guy
             comes in and says how would you like to sell me your house for $300,000? This is
             really what's happening, you know.''
 

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