To the Editor:

Re "A Costly Sting in Mexico" (editorial, June 12): Sting operations
are regarded as illegal entrapment under Mexican law. In response to
an American undercover operation that led to the indictment of 26
Mexican bankers on charges of money laundering, President Ernesto
Zedillo of Mexico criticized the United States for acting as if it
were "entitled to violate another country's laws for the sake of
enforcing its own" (news article, June 9).

Undercover operations, by their very nature, involve deception and
ethically questionable tactics. By creating an artificial criminal
milieu and holding out temptations for criminal opportunities that do
not otherwise exist, we are not punishing crimes but testing people
and punishing those too weak to pass the test. This approach to law
enforcement is contrary to the idea of a free society. We have no
right to treat our neighbors this way.

PAUL WOLF Glen Mills, Pa., June 15, 1998

Mark Greer Media Awareness Project (MAP) inc. d/b/a DrugSense
MGreer@mapinc.org http://www.DrugSense.org/ http://www.mapinc.org

Checked-by: (trikydik)