MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) --Smuggling has always thrived along the
U.S.-Mexico border, where money can buy passage for almost anything.

Now, as the United States beefs up security after the September 11 attacks,
Mexico's endemic lawlessness has raised concerns that terrorists could use the
country's organized crime networks to stage future attacks against America.

The United States and Mexico are discussing border security, and the two countries
are expected to reach an agreement next year, following a recent U.S.-Canada
accord to fight terrorism along the U.S. northern frontier.

"Mexico will not be a place of residency for terrorists nor a place of transit,"
Mexican President Vicente Fox said during a recent trip to Tijuana.

But Fox has struggled to halt widespread corruption and bring down deadly cartels.
In December, five federal agents and two state police officers in Reynosa were
arrested for working for one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords, Osiel Cardenas.

Drug lords are "so embedded that they run things," said Louis Sadler, a border
specialist at New Mexico State University. "They know where the creases are in the
border. They know what the odds are of being able to evade a sensory field,
balloons, or whatever."

There is no evidence that terrorists have staged attacks against the United States
from Mexico. But even without corruption, government officials on both sides of the
border have expressed concerns about Mexico's lax security and lawless culture.

Ruben Garza, a regional supervisor for Mexico's Comptroller's office, said there are
periods when no one is watching luggage move through X-ray machines at Tijuana's
airport. Months ago, Mexico took extra security measures at the airport because of
its proximity to San Diego.

"Anyone who has the intention of introducing arms or some kind of device to cause
harm, can do it with relative ease if they stop and observe the security measures at
the airport," he said.

In Ciudad Juarez, Republican congressional members said recently they easily found
people offering fake visas.

"We crossed over the border in Mexico, and when we got there we asked the first
person we found on the street whether it would be possible to purchase a document
in order to get into the United States," Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado said. "Within
about one minute, we were able to find such a person. This makes the whole border
process, to say the least, difficult."

Mexico's borderlands are home to some of Latin America's most powerful
smuggling rings. Over the years, they have infiltrated all levels of government, hiring
officials to give them safe passage.

In November, a former immigration agent in Ciudad Juarez was sentenced to 30
months in jail for working for a million-dollar global network that had smuggled
hundreds of Iraqis and Palestinians into the United States since 1996.

In September, the former police chief in Mexicali across from Calexico, California,
was jailed for allegedly warning Mexico's deadly Arellano Felix gang of police
operations.

The problem is not just Mexico's. In early December, an El Paso immigration
inspector was arrested for allegedly coordinating drug shipments across the Rio
Grande.

Sadler said terrorists could use such networks.

"These drug types are just as bad if not worse than Osama bin Laden," Sadler said.
"They are cold-blooded killers who care for nothing or nobody and for enough
money they can be had."

Yet John Bailey, a Mexico expert at Georgetown University, believes even corrupt
officials will draw the line when it comes to terrorism, figuring the risks outweigh
the bribes.

"If the rules are spelled out about what it is that Americans are really concerned
about, then corruption can coexist with security along the border," he said.

Sadler isn't so sure.

"They might be restrained in the sense of being aware of the fact of what the
retaliation factors will be," he said. "But they could also say smuggling people across
the border is not the same as destroying the World Trade towers. They could say
'Hey, I didn't know these guys were terrorists."'

Even Hector Castro, the state police commander in Matamoros across from
Brownsville, Texas, believes terrorists could use the border's networks. In early
December, Matamoros authorities arrested a migrant smuggler accused of sneaking
Pakistanis, eastern Europeans and others into the United States.

"Don't believe all terrorists come through Canada," he said.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.