US ASST SECRETARY OF STATE BEERS WATCHES ANTI-DRUG OPERATIONS, 1998-02-09 (photo)

Col. Leonardo Gallego (L), head of the anti-narcotics division of the Colombian National Police, accompanies Colombia's ambassador to Washington Juan Carlos Esguerra (2nd L), Randy Beers, U.S. assistant secretary of state for narcotics and international crime, and Police Chief Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano (R) on anti-drug operations in southern Caqueta province on February 7. Beers, pictured standing in the middle of a coca leaf plantation, was on a three-day trip to Colombia to find out about its anti-drug efforts in advance of Washington's annual certification decision. In the background, police torch a small building used to process coca leaf into cocaine base -- the unrefined precursor of cocaine. COLOMBIA USA DRUGS