CIA ZEROS IN ON MEXICO CORRUPTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 76
• Publication Date: November 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
Next 1 Page(s) In Document Denied
Iq
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
 STAT 4?__ n
1- Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
(' S.. r?.. (' 9 75 P. 01
~~ ~~,HhI I:~ I ~! aQ T`:' I ~,LII~IE
>/N DIEGO UA )/Q&)
e c
ALL
r
a sQ a1 ba aac rV t JrI W in On a4s of. exico ~??
tigations (4:: ',f4 7
sations as evidence Is-I. an-;. Vo i' . y, ... g
, ., . 4 'ountry s law WO Pri j ?' va~Ge
" I
urrent rF
f
? i th t
nrique Csmarena Salazar last. year i
in Guadalajara. ?he'Ci e o:hg more, they're
not. telling DES said a Justice De
Policy differences recently sup- srtgner~t offs al who would not.
faced between the CIA, which began:: -
sly: for irifof`=
moti "tnHIPl A r
StRff WIriWra Al WOUld * of vo1ff1 t Oil 14
9) Al A
ion Stan defer c ile 4~ shrn tope D.
and J. Stryker Wlcyer to dilcrrss th the es ; 1-1
The wiretap oper4ti6 ', 44 done
z o f
without the kn le a of the tl 1r ! vita :d 6' 1 ter e , .: to app'ly~ for
itrAChR
can giver mna
l, legal wl la_ lit bet nt~mou>~t
&e pf fear Oat the operation
*b d bo ndoh eredd,
US, Attorney Peter K..Nuuez was See W111 on Fge Al
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
of
Wiretus
Con. t!A n
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0605740076-0
0 i
[1011 !6
Continued from A-1 -
The source said there was no dis-
pute between the CIA and Justice
Department, but merely discussion
about how far the CIA would be will-
ing to go publicly, including possible
disclosure of methods of operations.
to authenticate the wiretaps.. The
Justice Department needs to know
that information before any pro5ccu-
Lion is undertaken, the source said.
Another source said the wire-
tapped conversations gathered in
Mexico are notable for their candor.
"There's no pretense, no subtlety,"
said the source. 'They just say,
'Bring 20 kilos of s--- (heroin) here by
tomorrow or I'll have your b-s cut
off.` No cute talk like in the U.S.,
where people might say, `How many
oranges do you want?'"
The cooperation of the CIA; in a
drug investigation has been a rarity
until recently.
Many DEA field agents and super-
visors who have worked in foreign
countries relate stories about past
cases where a drug trafficker has
been targeted, only to have the CIA
intervene and discourage the investi-
gation on grounds that-the trafficker
was working for [be spy agency.
That was possible because lay en-
forcement agencies working in a for-
eign country must report the names
of their foreign informants t6~ the
CIA station chief at the country's
U.S. embassy.
This massive investigative effort
was undertaken after the kidnapping
and torture-slaying of DEA agent
Camarena, who was seized on a Gua-
dalajara street on Feb. 7,1985.
Operation Leyenda" is the name
of the year-and-a-half investigation
into the Camarena murder. "Leyen-
da" is Spanish slang for "lawman," a
nickname by which the gung-ho
Camarena was known to his Col-
leagues. The investigation included
presenting evidence before a federal
grand jury in Washington, D.C., last
year, The probe recently shifted to a
federal grand jury in San Diego and
is headed by two special prosecutors
from Department of Justice head-
quarters.
Sources say U.S. investigators in
Mexico reached. and otherwise devel-
oped so many contacts that they did
not keep the CIA fully informed of
their activities.
After high-level discussions, the
sources say, the DEA agreed to make
the CIA aware of their informants
and the spy agency, in turn, agreed to
provide to the DEA information it
developed pertaining to the Camare-
na killing or to drug-related corrup-
tion in Mexico.
The interagency cooperation
comes nearly five years after Presi-
dent Reagan signed Executive Order
12333 on Dec. 4,1981, authorizing the
CIA to "collect, produce and dissent
pate intelligence on foreign aspects
of narcotics production and traffick-
ing,"
But the order includes clear limi-
tations on what the CIA can do when
its surveillance involves a U.S. citi-
zen in a foreign country.
It requires the CIA to use "the
least intrusive coilection techniques
feasible' and expressly prohibits the
use of such techniques as "electronic
surveillance, unconsented physical
search or monitoring devices unless
they are.., approved by the attorney
general:'
The order states that such approv-
al is not to be granted 'unless the
attorney general has determined in
each case that there is probable
cause to believe the (surveillance)
technique is directed. against a for-
eign power or an agent of a foreign
power " .
A Justice Department spokesman
yesterday refused comment on this.
CIA spokesman George Lauder
yesterday said the agency has a
standing policy against discussing its
operations and, therefore, would not
comment publicly on the wiretap
allegations.
But. a senior intelligence official
said the U.S. intelligence conmuoity.
including the CIA, collects informa-
tion on narcotics and passes it on. to
other government branches, includ-
ing the DEA.
The official, who spoke on the con-
dition that be not be identified, said:
"Narcotics in Mexico is not (the
CIA's) cupcake. Other organs of the
United States government are deeply
enmeshed in it"
The State Department ,and DEA
lead the U.S. anti-drug effort in Mex-
ico, including the gathering of nar-
cotics-related intelligence, the offi-
cial said, adding that the CIA's role is
to provide narcotics information that
other agencies cannot get
The official declined to say
whether that includes information
from wiretaps, electronic intercepts
or other forms of surveillance.
An administration official familiar
with U.S. intelligence activities in
Mexico said yesterday, "You bet
(the CI AI collects information on
narcotics (there and in other nations r.
It's one of the agency's priorities."
The administration official also de-
clined to be identified
White House spokesman Don
Nlathts said he is absolutely certain
there is an exchange of drug-related
information between the State De-
partment, the National Security
Council and the DE.A. But he had no
comment on any CIA role.
4-h
h Lawn
o n
t
ra r
DES Admmrs
was in Palermo, Sicily. yesterday
and could not be reached for corn-
merit. DEA Public Affairs spokes-
man William Alden said the agency
would make no comment
Contributing to this story were
Copley News Service Washington
correspondents Benjamin Shore and
Marcus Sferd.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0605740076-0
 At-., ')A,OC 1 t : GA Tt C ('TTCTr)MC CBAT nTvr_r, MTCT/nTDVt'rr n n2
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
Wednesday, November 19, 1986
CIA zeros in on
Mexico corruption
Wiretaps called confirmation of charges
of dishonesty in police, elected officials
By Jon Standefer
and J. Stryker Meyer
Staff Writers
=The CIA has been conducting a
wiretap operation in Mexico that has
corroborated allegations of corrup-
tion among law enforcement and po-
litical officials in that country, The
San Diego Union has learned.
. The CIA's cooperation in drug in-
vestigations is a recent departure
from its traditional- role of intelli-
gence-gathering, sources, say, and re-
sulted from pressures generated by
the kidnap-torture slaying of Drug
Enforcement Administration agent
Enrique Camarena Salazar last year
in Guadalajara.
Policy differences recently sur-
faced between the CIA, which began
passing information relating to drug-
related corruption to the DEA, and
Department of Justice lawyers, who
are planning future prosecutions.
The CIA passed along the incrimi-
nating conversations for "intelli-
gence purposes only," said one
source., while the Justice Department
wants to use the wiretapped conver-
sations as evidence in any court tri-
als that arise from the current inves-
tigations.
The wiretap operation was done
without the knowledge, of the Mexi-
can government, the sources said, be-
cause of fear that the operation
would be endangered.
U.S. Attorney Peter K. Nunez was
called to Washington. D.C., last week
to discuss the case, the sources said.
Nunez would 'not comment on his
trip, but other sources said the spy
agency is no longer providing infor-
mation to the DEA.
The extent of the wiretap opera-
tion conot be confirmed. A1=
though one source in the intelligence
community said it involved taps on
the telephones of several high gov-
ernment officials, others said the in-
formation passed to the DEA came
from a tap on the Mexico City tele-
phone of a U.S. citizen in contact
with numerous police officials, state
officials and drug traffickers.
"If the CIA is doing more, they're
not telling DEA," said a Justice De-
partment official who would not
speak for attribution-
A spokesman for the CIA yester-
day had no comment.
The wiretap of the American citi-
zen raises a legal question.
For wiretap evidence gathered in
a foreign jurisdiction to be used in a
U.S. court, a Justice Department
source said, the wiretap generally
must be in accordance with that
country's laws. However, the source
added, in the case of Mexico -
where vast numbers of government
officials are believed to be in league
with drug traffickers - to apply for
a legal wiretap might be tantamount
to alerting the suspects.
See WIRETAPS on Page A-13
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
SAN Dic"(.c' ci, v/t-A)
(t oiesoA1(1 A10U I?, i?ft
Wiretaps: CIA targets Mexico corruption
Continued from A-1
The source said there was no dis-
pute between the CIA and Justice
Department, but merely discussion
about how far the CIA would be will.
ing to go publicly, including possible
disclosure of methods of operations,
to authenticate the wiretaps. The
Justice Department needs to know
prosecu-
that information before any
tion is undertaken, the source said.
Another source said the wire-
tapped conversations gathered in
Mexico are notable for their candor.
"There's no pretense, no subtlety,"
said the source. "they just say,
"Bring 20 kilos of s-- (heroin) here by
tomorrow or I'll have your b---s cut
off.' No cute talk like in the U.S.,
where people might say, 'How many
? oranges do you want?' "
The cooperation of the CIA in a
drug investigation has been a rarity
until recently.
Many DEA field agents and super.
' visors who have worked in foreign
' countries relate stories about past
cases where a drug trafficker has
been targeted, only to have the CIA
intervene and discourage the investi-
gation on grounds that the trafficker
was working for the spy agency.
That was passible because law en?
farernent agencies working in a for-
eign country most report the names
'of their foreign informants to the
CIA station chief at the country's
U.S. embassy.
This massive investigative effort
was undertaken after the kidnapping
and torture-slaying of DEA agent
Camarena, who was seized on a Gua-
dalajara street on Feb. 7, 1985.
"Operation Leyenda" is the name
of the year-and-a-half investigation
into the Camarena murder. "Leyen-
da" is Spanish slang for "lawman," a
nickname by which the gung-ho
Camarena was known to his col-
leagues. The investigation included
presenting evidence before a federal
grand jury in Washington, D.C., last
year. The probe recently shifted to a
federal grand jury in San Diego and
is headed by two special prosecutors,
from Department of Justice head-
quarters.
Sources say U.S. investigators in
Mexico reached and otherwise devel-
oped so many contacts that they did
not keep the CIA fully informed of
their activities.
After high-level discussions, the
sources say, the DEA agreed to make
the CIA aware of their informants
and the spy agency, in turn, agreed to
provide to the DEA information it
developed pertaining to the Camare-
na killing or to drug-related corrup-
tion in Mexico.
The interagency cooperation
comes nearly five years after Presi-
dent Reagan signed Executive Order
12333 on Dec. 4, 1981, authorizing the
CIA to "collect, produce and dissemi-
nate intelligence on foreign aspects
of narcotics production and traffick-
ing."
But the order includes clear limi-
tations on what the CIA can do when
its surveillance involves a U.S. citi-
zen in a foreign country..
It requires the CIA to use "the
least intrusive collection techniques
feasible" and expressly prohibits the
use of such techniques as "electronic
surveillance, unconsented physical
search or monitoring devices unless
they are... approved by the attorney
general" i
The order states that such approv-
al is not to be granted "unless the
attorney general has determined in
each case that there is probable
cause to believe the (surveillance)
technique is directed against a for-
eign power or an agent of a foreign
power."
A Justice Department spokesman
yelsterday refused comment on this.
,CIA spokesman George Lauder
yesterday said the agency has a
standing policy against discussing its
operations and. therefore, would not
comment publicly on the wiretap
allegations.
But a senior Intelligence official
said the U.S. intelligence community.
including the CIA, collects informa-
tion on narcotics and passes it on to
other government branches, Wad-
ing the DEA.
The official, who spoke on the con-
dition that he not be identified, said:
"Narcotics in Mexico is not (the
CIA's) cupcake. Other organs of the
United States government are deeply
enmeshed in it."
The State Department and DEA
lead the U.S. anti-drug effort in Mex-
ico, including the gathering of nar-
cotics-related intelligence, the offi-
cial said, adding that the CIA's role is
to provide narcotics information that
other agencies cannot get.
The official declined to say
whether that includes information
from wiretaps, electronic intercepts
or other forms of surveillance.
An administration official familiar
with U.S intelligence activities in
Mexico said yesterday, "You bet ...
(the CIA) collects information on
narcotics (there and in other nations).
It's one of the agency's priorities."
The administration official also de-
clined to be identified.
White House spokesman Don
Mathis said he is absolutely certain
there is an exchange of drug-related
information between the State De-
partment, the National Security
Council and the DEA. But he had no
comment on any CIA role.
DEA Administrator John Lawn
was in Palermo. Sicily, yesterday
and could not be reached for com-
ment. DEA Public Affairs spokes-
man William Alden said the agency.
would make no comment.
Contributing to this story were
Copley News Service Washington
correspondents Benjamin Share and
Marcus Stern.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
Goodwill
meeting is
called off
Tijuana mayor
cancels session;
wiretaps cited
By Martin P. Houseman
Stitt Writer
Tijuana Mayor Rene Trevino Ar-
redondo, angered by reports in The
San Diego Union of CIA electronic
eavesdropping in Mexico, canceled a
joint Tijuana-San Diego city council
meeting set for today that was to
have ushered in a new era of mutual
trust and close cooperation between
the two cities.
Trevino personally telephoned
Mayor Maureen O'Connor with his
decision yesterday. She Informed the
council at a session called to narrow
the tjeld of nominees for appoint-
ment to Uvaldo Martinet's Eighth
District seat.
"It is a sad day for me to make this
nnounccmcnt," said O'Connor, who
launched an attempted rapproache-
ment with Tijuana in a highly suc-
cessful goodwill visit to Treviilo and
the Mexican border metropolis on
Oct. S.
Trevino said through his spokes-
man, Luis Manuel Serrano, that he
considered the reported CIA action a
violation of Mexico's national sover-
eignty.
The CIA denied the reports yester-
day.
A front-page story in yesterday's
Union reported that a CIA wiretap
operation in Mexico had corroborat-
ed allegations of corruption among
law enforcement and political offi-
cials there. The report cited one
source as saying be believed the
wiretaps were on the phones of high-
ranking Mexican officials. Another
source said the taps were on the
phone of a U.S. citizen in Mexico City
In contact with numerous police offi-
dals, state officials and drug traf-
fickers.
A40 ' bcoat)kpo%doa
? T ursday, November 10, I986
The San Diego Union
Tijuana Mayor Rene Trevino Arrendondo and San Diego
Mayor Maureen O'Connor during a meeting last month.
CIA cooperation in drug investiga-
tions was a departure from its tradi-
tional intelligence-gathering role and
resulted from pressures generated
by the February 1985 kidnap-torture
slaying of Drug Enforcement Admin-
istration agent Enrique Camarena in
Guadalajara, the account said, citing
unnamed sources.
The operation was conducted with-
out the knowledge of the Mexican
government out of fear that it might
be compromised, the sources said.
Trevino was not available for
comment yesterday,. Serrano said,
because he was working on his final
State of the City report and prepar-
ing for the Dec. I transfer of office to
Mayor-elect Federico Valdes
Martinet,
In Washington yesterday, CIA
spokesman George Lauder said the
Union article was false and mislead.
ing.
'Ile CIA doesn't normally com-
ment on stories concerning alleged
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
 Declassified
Coatiaoed from A-1 once again, and hope the new mayor
? ??
in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0
vr
mber to,
-goodwill talks called off ~b~rsdpy' "~~- 1`
CIA activities," Lauder said. "We are
making an exception in this case be-
cause The an Diego Union's story is
false and misleads the American
public. The suggestion that the CIA
has been targeting Mexican officials
in connection with narcotics traffick-
,ing is false."
Department of Justice spokesman
Patrick Korten said, "Any suggestion
that we have targeted Mexican polit-
ical officials or police in wiretapping
operations is simply not true ... it is
not true that any taps have been
placed, that we're aware of or at our
behest, on high Mexican government
:officials."
Borten said the department would
have no comment on any other as-
peet of the Union story, Including a
report that an American=Wnthe tar-
get of a'CIA wiretap in Mexico.
Serrano told the Union on behalf of
Mayor Trevino:
. 't'he information you published
today indicates a clear violation of
Mexico's national sovereignty by the
CIA. Under these circumstances, it is
not possible to attend this (joint
council) meeting where (the two'
mayors) would talk of good neighbor-
liness, of good relations and of mutu-
al respect.
"Under the circumstances, Mayor
Trevino would not feel disposed to
talk of being good neighbors when
there has been a violation of Mexi-
co's national sovereignty."
Serrano said the CIA action has
had a "reverberating effect" on local
Mexican officials, He speculated that
it would take "some type of correc.
tion of these violations" to cause a
thaw in relations.
He emphasized that Trevino did
not blame the Union, Mayor O'Con-
nor or the city of San Diego for what
happened -- "only the CIA."
For her part, O'Connor said she be-
lieved that federal officials in Mexi-
co City were responsible for cancel-
lation of the joint council session.
"I think Mayor Trevino was told
there was to be no meeting. It's so
unfortunate," she said. "We're hope-
ful that this is jest a temporary set-
back. Our two cities need to be in
communication. There is a whole
Boutda pending: sewage, tourism,
sew ideas. We will make our offer
accepts."
She said the City Council and staff
had put a great deal of effort into
planning for the day's activities and
were very disappointed. She said she
was especially sorry that the inci-
dent occurred just before Trevino
leaves office so that San Diego can-
not reciprocate the hospitality be-
stowed upon the San Diego party
during her Oct. 3 visit to Tijuana.
She added that she didn't blame
the newspaper, "which has to do its
job.-
Earlier, the mayor told the coun-
cil, it Is with great regret that I
must announce the cancellation of
tomorrow's scheduled joint meeting
?- the first one ever in the city _ of
the San Diego and Tijuana councils.
Mayor Treviho called me personally
to express his greater concerns over
:allegations made in this morning's
San Diego Union regarding CIA wire-
tapping in Mexico."
Plans called for Charger fan
Trevino and a party of 30 or 40 Mexi-
can officials and guests to attend to-
.night's Chargers-Raiders game.
O'Connor announced that those indi-
viduals and firms who had given up
their tickets for the Mexican entou-
rage could recover them.
O'Connor's overtures to Tijuana
City Hall, and the warm response by
Trevino had led to hopes on both
sides of the border that for the first
time in 10 years, going back to the
Pete Wilson era, the cities would col-
laborate and make progress on com-
mon problems.
Jorge Bustamante, Tijuana's lead-
ing academic on cross-border rela-
tions, said recently, "It's long over-
due for San Diego and.Tijuana may-
ors to have more efficient
communication to avoid problems ...
San Diego and Tijuana are two of the
most separated cities along the
whole border. You find better-
bilat-eral relations almost everywhere
else."'
- e -ttat to this story was Cbp
ley News Ser vke Was i a-nr-
spoedeat swank &are.
WAUVAPudn
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740076-0