
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 22, 1990                   TAG: 9006220031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. BOMBINGS UP 25 PERCENT/ DRUG VIOLENCE ALMOST DOUBLES

The number of bombings nationwide increased 25 percent last year as drug-related bombings almost doubled, a government report says.

"These are largely bombings related to turf wars or disagreements within certain factions involved in narcotics trafficking," said Jack Killorin, a spokesman for the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. He was referring to the leap in drug-related bombings.

Firearms still are responsible for most drug-related violence, Killorin acknowledged Wednesday. But he added: "Nobody at ATF likes the trend of almost exponential growth in the use of explosive devices as a weapon in the drug wars."

Drug-related bombings last year totaled 64, almost double the 33 in 1988, according to a draft of the ATF explosives incidence report of 1989. There were only five such attacks in 1987, the first year ATF counted drug-related bombings.

In those three years, 18 people were killed in drug-related bombings, 13 of them in 1989, the report said. In addition, 56 people have been injured, 17 of them last year.

"I don't think there's any question but the street level of activity in narcotics is becoming increasingly violent," Killorin said.

Meanwhile, the total number of criminal bomb attacks, for all reasons, increased by 25 percent, from 1,108 in 1988 to 1,384 last year. The 1989 total was 59 percent higher than the 871 in 1985.

Thirty-three people were killed and 305 injured last year in bomb attacks. Since 1985, the number of people killed has ranged between 29 and 43. Last year represented a high for the number of injured, which had ranged from 182 to 283 in the previous four years.

Among motives for bomb attacks, drug issues ranked third, the report says. Vandalism was first, followed by revenge, then drug disputes, labor disputes, homicide or suicide, protest, extortion and insurance fraud. Killorin noted that some bombings had several motives.

Bombings listed in the report include explosive as well as incendiary devices. The difference, said Killorin, "is the difference between a hand grenade and a Molotov cocktail." The numbers cover bombings either investigated by the ATF or reported to the ATF by other law enforcement agencies.

by CNB