CHILPANCINGO, Mexico (Reuters) -- Anti-drug agents spraying
                  herbicides on poppy plantations in the rugged mountains of Mexico's main
                  opium-producing region say the war on drugs puts them under potential
                  attack 365 days a year.

                  Last year, farmers protecting their poppy and marijuana plots shot at 39
                  helicopters from Mexico's anti-drug agency, known by its Spanish acronym
                  FEADS, officials told Reuters on Wednesday during a flight to spray
                  herbicides on poppy fields.

                  "They left one helicopter like a sieve. They shot it 11 times," said Camilo
                  Vega Rivera, FEADS' general director of poppy and marijuana eradication.

                  One Mexican helicopter pilot was saved by his bullet-proof vest, and
                  airborne anti-drug crews always are in danger of wires strung by poppy
                  growers to disable helicopter blades.

                  The front lines of Mexico's drug war are far from Washington, D.C., where
                  the White House and Senate lawmakers will decide in the coming weeks
                  whether to certify Mexico as an ally in the fight against illegal narcotics.

                  According to U.S. estimates, roughly two-thirds of the cocaine that enters
                  the country comes through its border with Mexico, and there are some U.S.
                  lawmakers who want the Clinton administration to blacklist the Zedillo
                  government.

                  The weeks preceding U.S. "certification" have become an annual ritual in
                  which Mexico slams the process as one-sided and reported drug seizures
                  pick up notably. Decertification in the drug war can be politically humiliating
                  and can mean a loss of financial and other assistance from the United States.

                  U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey praised Mexico's drug eradication
                  campaign at this week's Mexican drug summit attended by Mexican
                  President Ernesto Zedillo and U.S.

                  President Bill Clinton.

                  But Mexico is still expected to come under intense criticism by some in the
                  U.S. Congress because drug seizures are down compared to last year, and
                  there are questions about whether Mexico is really committed to fighting the
                  problem.

                  On Feb. 4, Mexican officials unveiled plans to spend up to $500 million over
                  the next three years to stem the flow of narcotics through the country.

                  Officials also say Mexico is at the "top of the world in the task of eradicating
                  illicit plantations," with 43,100 acres (17,449 hectares) of opium destroyed
                  in 1998.

                  Mexico has roughly 123,500 acres (50,000 hectares) of opium poppies and
                  marijuana plantations, according to government figures. Even though
                  FEADS destroys about 85 percent of that a year, Herran said the growers
                  replant immediately.

                  During the flight on Wednesday, agents sprayed the herbicide paraquat on
                  several farms near Chilpancingo, the capital of the Pacific coast state of
                  Guerrero, the country's main opium-producing state. The dry, scrubby,
                  rugged terrain, warm climate, and sparse population of Guerrero make the
                  area ideal for poppy growing.

                  Vega told Reuters more than two dozen helicopters and airplanes are in the
                  air every day, with army choppers hovering nearby to provide cover from
                  hostile growers.

                  Fumigation is the easiest way to attack the crops, but helicopters must make
                  two to three low passes over fields to be effective. More than half the
                  eradication programme is done by agents on the ground.

                  Agents in Mexico's drug eradication programme are trained by U.S. drug
                  officials.

                  Mexico supplies only about five percent of the world's combined marijuana
                  and opium, partly because the national eradication campaign is successful,
                  Vega said. Vega said CIA satellite photos prove the eradication programme
                  is highly successful.

                     Copyright 1999 Reuters.