BY RICARDO SANDOVAL
 Herald World Staff

 TIJUANA, Mexico -- The murder of Tijuana's police chief could not have come at a
 worse time for Mexico: On Wednesday, President Clinton sends Congress his list
 of countries that are certified as U.S. allies in the war on drugs, and Mexico will
 be on the list.

 That will kick off another round of debate in Washington, with some lawmakers
 expected to argue that Mexico does not merit certification because it has not
 done enough to stop the flow of illicit drugs.

 The police chief was gunned down Sunday in an ambush that bears the marks of
 organized crime, only days after Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo promised to
 get tough on drug smugglers in this booming border area.

 Alfredo de la Torre Marquez, police chief in this city across the border from San
 Diego, was murdered as he drove alone toward his office from church. Gunmen in
 sports utility vehicles opened fire on his Suburban.

 Tijuana is home to the Arellano Felix drug organization, Mexico's second-largest
 drug cartel. It also is one of the country's biggest transfer points for U.S.-bound
 drugs. De la Torre's murder was strikingly similar to the 1995 murder of a previous
 police chief that was linked to drug gangs. It happened on the same road.
 CONCERNS RAISED

 The de la Torre murder raises ``concerns [in Washington] that Mexico finds itself
 in a position where this kind of violence occurs, and no one in an official capacity
 can seem to bring those responsible to justice,'' said a U.S. analyst who works
 with congressional committees on drug issues and who spoke on condition he
 not be named. Each year the U.S. president must certify the anti-drug efforts of
 countries where drug trafficking and production have been a problem.
 Decertification can lead to trade sanctions and a loss of economic aid.

 Because Mexico is the United States' second most important trading partner,
 congressional analysts say Clinton is unlikely to decertify the country, even
 though drug seizures are down and authorities have had little effect on
 drug-related violence or corruption.

 ``The Mexican effort against drug smugglers amounts to no more than stopping
 cars for random searches,'' said Jesus Blancornelas, editor of the Tijuana weekly
 newspaper Zeta and the survivor of an assassination attempt by drug cartel hit
 men in 1998. ``There is no real federal investigation or intelligence effort against
 drug lords.''

 Street skirmishes between drug gangs in Tijuana have killed at least two dozen
 people in recent weeks. Eighty murders have been reported this year in Tijuana.
 `WORST' POLICE

 ``The Mexican police force is one of the worst -- if not the worst -- in Latin
 America,'' said a U.S. official who asked not to be identified.

 Another U.S. law enforcement official who has worked in the San Diego-Tijuana
 region scoffed at Mexican and U.S. claims that the two countries' agents are
 working together against drugs.

 ``There's no way I'd have a Mexican [drug agent] working in my office. It would be
 like allowing a spy into our ranks,'' said the official, who also asked not to be
 identified.

 Every day, U.S. Customs agents in Tijuana intercept about a dozen cars
 concealing loads of drugs. Agents say that for every vehicle they catch, another
 10 make it through the border checkpoint.

 ``We've had some success,'' U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Ray Kelly said
 at the border last week as agents stripped enough marijuana and cocaine from
 several vehicles to fill two shopping carts. ``But despite what you see here, there's
 plenty of stuff that still comes through.''
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald