Freeing of Drug Suspects Draws GOP Criticism

Republican leaders voiced outrage Monday over a published report that hundreds of suspected drug smugglers were being freed and returned to Mexico after apprehension with substantial amounts of drugs at California ports of entry.

Gov. Pete Wilson urged GOP leaders in Washington to conduct hearings on issues raised by a Times article Sunday that disclosed that overcrowding at the federal jail in San Diego and prosecutorial discretion resulted in one out of four suspected traffickers being deported without arrest or prosecution.

“Californians have repeatedly expressed their frustration and outrage at the federal government’s continued unwillingness to control our borders,” Wilson said in his request to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Dole called the article “disturbing,” in that it revealed that the U.S. attorney in San Diego, Clinton administration border czar Alan Bersin, had adopted a program two years ago that freed many suspected traffickers--including one caught with 32 pounds of methamphetamine, and another with 37,000 Quaalude tablets.

In a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, Dole wrote: “My questions to you are simple ones: Is the Los Angeles Times story accurate? And, if so, do the policies of the U.S. attorney’s office [in San Diego] represent the policies of the Justice Department and the Clinton administration?”

John Russell, a Justice Department spokesman in Washington, had not seen the letter but said Reno will have “a proper response” for Dole. “We have no further comment at this time,” he said.

In a written statement, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Monday expressed continued support for Bersin. However, Boxer said that “even one drug runner who escapes prosecution is too much for me,” and pledged to work for additional resources to help federal prosecutors in San Diego get “the tools they need to get the job done.”

The U.S. attorney’s office earlier confirmed that an increasing number of traffickers have been sent back to Mexico after simply being excluded from this country pending an immigration hearing.

Government figures show that more than 1,000 smuggling cases have been processed in this manner since 1994 at the San Ysidro, Tecate and Otay Mesa border crossings. The number rose from 215 in 1994 to 636 last year--and officials project that the tally will exceed 800 this year.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John Kramer said the program is a powerful prosecutorial tool principally targeting first-time Mexican offenders who face the sanction of losing permanent residency in the United States or their border crossing cards. He also noted that drug seizures went up 25% last year and that the number of felony prosecutions has doubled.

Although any narcotics can result in felony prosecution, drug agents say the threshold for prosecutions has risen as seizures have increased. U.S. Customs officials say they are operating under guidelines generally limiting prosecution, including misdemeanors, to cases involving 125 pounds of marijuana or more. Agents also say there often is no room for suspected smugglers at the federal jail in San Diego because it is filled with suspects awaiting trial on immigration violations and other charges.

Critics, including some law enforcement officials, alleged that Bersin’s tough policy of targeting undocumented aliens with previous felony convictions for prosecution has led to jail overcrowding at the federal facility. In turn, the overcrowding has forced authorities to release drug smuggling suspects who should be jailed, critics say.

Times staff writers James Bornemeier in Washington and Dave Lesher in Sacramento contributed to this article.