swapDepth and setMask trouble

hi im having some trouble when trying to implement the swap depth function to movieclips that have the setmask function implimented to them. the problem is that i can get the swapdepth to work but when the setmask is implimented at the same time the movie clips will not swap depths.

the code that i am using to set the mask is
_root.bgmasked.setMask(_root.dragger); this is on frame one in the action/code layer bgmasked is the imaged being masked by dragger.

the code that i am using to swapDepth is
on (press, release, dragOver, dragOut) {
_root.x +=2;
_root.dragger.swapDepths(_root.x);

}
this code is placed on the movie clip dragger that is masking bgmasked

if anyone has a clue how i can get this to work full im all ears

thanks in advance