U.S. Acts to Curb Exports of Drug-Making Solvents

The Drug Enforcement Administration has moved to block U.S. chemical shipments to 52 South American companies on grounds that the solvents they import are likely to be used in the production of cocaine, congressional sources said Monday.

The move, authorized under new legislation, comes as revised intelligence estimates indicate that as much as 70% of all the solvents shipped by the United States to the Andean nations wind up as ingredients in cocaine processing, the sources said.

The agency action targets about one in five of the South American companies that were regular importers of the industrial solvents.

The new indications of the broad American role in fueling Latin American cocaine production are to be disclosed today as a Senate subcommittee opens a round of inquiries into the chemical exports, whose contribution to the cocaine trade is a subject of growing congressional concern.

“The match has been lit,” said one well-placed congressional aide, noting that outrage over the chemical-cocaine connection had already inspired a Senate proposal to ban outright exports of one of the suspect solvents.

At the same time, Sen. Richard H. Bryan (D-Nev.), who was responsible for convening the hearing, said he would urge President Bush to add the chemical issue to the agenda of the upcoming international drug summit in Colombia, where he is to meet with the leaders of three Andean nations--Columbia, Peru and Bolivia.

“This is a serious problem,” Bryan said, “and there is more that (the United States) can do.”

The DEA action leaves open the possibility that the affected Latin American companies might turn to European suppliers for the solvents, and the intelligence community has already detected indications that such a shift has begun to occur, sources said.

Bryan and other critics believe the Administration should step up its efforts to persuade the European nations to adopt their own controls on exports and should at the same time consider new restrictions on U.S. chemical shipments.

U.S. law enforcement agencies won their most important victory in the effort to curb the chemical trade last year when they were given the authority to halt what they regarded as suspect shipments.

But evidence uncovered since then has shown the role of U.S. chemicals in cocaine production to be far more extensive than was previously recognized, prompting concerns that even the new powers might not be sufficient.

Congressional officials active in the inquiry said lawmakers were particularly troubled by evidence that the volume of chemicals imported by Colombia and other Andean nations was far greater than those countries could use legitimately and by indications that DEA specialists had not been able to investigate all of the companies involved.

There are no indications that U.S. manufacturers have knowingly shipped chemicals to cocaine manufacturers, and the companies have emphasized that they take precautions to make certain their customers are legitimate.

But in an interview Monday, a senior official of the Chemical Manufacturers Assn. acknowledged that U.S. exports may well be diverted to cocaine producers. He said the trade group late last year established a task force to contend with growing public concern about the problem.

“It can happen that products are sold to a customer who seems legitimate and that the product then is diverted into illegal drug marketing,” said R. Garrity Baker, director of international activities for the chemical manufacturers.

The 52 South American companies that the DEA took action against were among 288 firms cited by U.S. exporters as “regular customers” as last October. Many of the businesses proved to be nothing more than fronts for that country’s cocaine cartels, according to U.S. officials in Bogota.

The 18% percentage rate of companies placed on the blocked list reflects a significant increase from the preliminary rate reported by The Times in an extensive investigation two months ago of the cocaine-chemical connection. And although the move merely denies “regular customer” export status to these firms--a status that allows them to receive shipments with less notice--its effect has been to block all solvent exports to them, the DEA has told the congressional investigators. None of the U.S. exporters affected by the action have challenged the decisions.

The DEA, citing a promise of confidentiality, has refused to identify any of the companies involved in the crackdown.

A small number of U.S. firms account for the vast majority of the U.S. chemical exports to the region, including Exxon Corp. and Shell Oil Co., which are the primary manufacturers of methyl ethyl ketone, the solvent believed to be most commonly diverted for use in the cocaine trade.

Despite the moves by the DEA to block the most suspicious shipments, investigators still fear that some of the remaining U.S. exports of the solvents--which include acetone, ether and toluene as well as MEK--may still be wind up in remote jungle drug laboratories.

A recent CIA analysis concludes that between 40% and 70% of U.S. exports of those solvents to Colombia, Peru and Bolivia is diverted for use in cocaine production, knowledgeable sources said. The overall figure reflects a refinement from a previous intelligence estimate, which put the diversion rate at 20% in Latin America as a whole, the sources said.

The clearest example of a chemical whose primary function has been to fuel cocaine production is methyl ethyl ketone, of which 90% of the 13 million gallons exported by the United States to Colombia last year was believed to wind up in cocaine laboratories, The Times found in its recent investigation.

In an effort to curb abuse of that solvent, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week introduced legislation that would outlaw export of the chemical.