Southland Seeks Drug War Help

Mayor Tom Bradley and Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates called Thursday for formation of a federal task force on the West Coast to combat the drug problem here.

Bradley released copies of letters to California Sens. Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson in which the mayor said that the creation of the federal South Florida Task Force in 1982 has prompted drug smugglers to shift their operations to Southern California.

“The positive results in Florida have proven to be disastrous for California and Los Angeles,” the mayor wrote.

“In 1982, the (Los Angeles) Police Department seized 359 pounds of cocaine,” Bradley said in the letter. “In 1987, the seizures increased to over seven tons. Cocaine seizures by the LAPD accounted for 82% of all the cocaine seized in California and 22% of the total nationwide.”

‘Friendly Invasion’

During his remarks at a City Hall news conference, Gates suggested a “friendly invasion” by U.S. military forces--with the permission of the Colombian government--as a way to halt the flow of illegal drugs from that country.

The mayor declined comment on Gates’ invasion suggestion.

“I have to be more delicate than that,” the mayor said with a smile.

In his letters to Cranston, a Democrat, and Wilson, a Republican, Bradley asked them to “ensure that California and Los Angeles get a fair share of the increased resources earmarked for Justice Department anti-drug efforts in the 1989 federal budget,” including “supplies and equipment (particularly helicopters) . . . so that our police can wage an effective battle against the criminal element.

‘Sad Commentary’

“It is a sad commentary that law enforcement is ‘out-gunned’ by the sophisticated weaponry of the drug dealers,” the mayor wrote.

Gates and Bradley said a multiagency task force like the one assembled in South Florida should be put to work in Southern California to interdict the flow of cocaine and other drugs from other countries.

The Florida task force included more than 250 agents from the Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, along with personnel from the Coast Guard, the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of Defense.

“We need whatever it takes to drive the drugs out of Los Angeles,” Gates said. “The Los Angeles Police Department cannot do it alone.”