Bonner's Air Force

By Janice Castro

As soon as he's finished battling Customs, Treasury, the Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard and much of the White House staff, Drug Enforcement Administration chief ROBERT BONNER may want to begin circulating his resume. Bonner started the fight with "Operation Granite," a new drug- interdiction scheme he concocted for the Caribbean. Under a plan that one top Administration source calls "remarkably stupid," DEA would base 10 Black Hawk helicopters in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for chasing down drug smugglers flying out of Colombia. One of Bonner's targets: drugs being air- dropped to boats. Customs and the Coast Guard objected, since they already operate large interdiction forces in the Caribbean. Besides, the air drops are declining, according to DEA information that agency chief Bonner apparently did not note. Attorney General William Barr, though, has been "slamming the table," say critics, in support of Bonner. Barr may be Bonner's last line of defense. DEA agents, who call their boss "Marco Polo" for his habit of official travel to exotic climes, have been scratching their heads over the plan. President Bush is expected to referee the squabble this week.