Bush Lauds Drug Fight in Speech at Seized Hideaway

Underscoring a major theme of his Administration, President Bush traveled to a former drug smuggling hideaway in Orange County today to hand law enforcement officials more than $4 million in cash to aid their battle against drug trafficking.

“Rancho del Rio has been reclaimed,” Bush said in a speech to an invitation-only audience of 1,300 guests at the remote canyon ranch east of San Juan Capistrano.

Referring to the ranch, Bush said, “This operation had commercial packing equipment, underground storage vaults, large vans with hidden compartments, jet aircraft and ocean-going vessels.

“Once a warehouse of death, now it is a source of hope.”

Authorities have alleged that the ranch, a luxurious canyon hideaway, was once used as a transit point for thousands of pounds of marijuana and hundreds of pounds of cocaine.

The President said the ranch will become an international training center for narcotics enforcement. He said it will serve as a reminder to drug traffickers that “your money won’t help you. In fact, we’re going to use it against you.”

Bush described Orange County as “one of the largest and toughest drug markets in the country.” Despite that reputation, local law enforcement officials have refused to give up the fight and have become an example “of hope, determination and the American spirit,” the President said.

Bush pointed to Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates and the Rev. Robert Schuller as leaders of the local effort to combat drugs.

The President, noting the power and influence of Hollywood, called upon the entertainment industry to take a bigger role in the war on drugs. He said the entertainment industry has done much, but “you can do more. You must do more.”

Bush arrived at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station at 11:30 a.m. aboard Air Force One. He had spent the morning in the San Francisco Bay Area touring a Ford Motor Co. aerospace plant.

Five minutes after his arrival at El Toro, Bush boarded a small Marine helicopter for the 20-minute flight to the isolated ranch, which is accessible only by air or a four-mile dirt road. The ranch is near the junction of Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties.

Bush was to spend 90 minutes at the ranch, touring the hideaway, having lunch with drug enforcement officials and agents, and then speaking to the invited guests.