ANGRY MEXICANS ARE CHALLENGING ACTIVITY OF AMERICAN DRUG AGENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030037-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2013
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: August 25, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

TAT 1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/25 CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030037-5
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Angry Mexicans Are Challenging
Activity. ofAmerican Drtig Agents
U.S. Protests Set Off Storm
By ALAN RIDING
Special to The New York Times
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 24 ? United
States protests over what it says was
the torture of an 'American narcotics
agent by policemen in Guadalajara this
month have raised a political.stOrm
here over the activities of the Drug En-
forcement Administration in Mexico.
Although the United States lias,maln-
tained a narcotics liaison office here
since the early 1960's, many politicians
and newspaper columnists are sud-
denly demanding to know why foreign
law enforcement agents are allowed to
operate freely in Mexico.
"Mexico forcefully rejects any: at-
tempt to violate its sovereignty in the
pursuit of narcotics traffickers,? Sena-
tor Antonio Riva Palacio of the govern-
ing Institutional Revolutionary Party
said Friday.
General Says Help Is Not Needed
?
Further, the Defense Minister, Gen.
Juape,4revalo Gardequi, who has as-
serted that 25,000 Mexican soldiers are
taking part in the latest anti-drug push
here, said Mexico did not need outside
help in fighting the narcotics traffic.
But President Migeel.de...-1a.Madrid
said in an interview published Satur-
day that he had no intention of expel-
ling the Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration.
He also said he felt the American re-
sponse to the case of the American
agent, Victor Cortez J r . , had been ex-
aggerated. "The Cortez; incident wasi
very unfortunate; but I think you have
to put it in perspective," he said.
"Bilateral relations with the United
States cover a very broad area." .
But while Mr. de la Madrid has re-
iterated his pledge to comba4arcotics;
traffic, American officials here .haVe
Indicated that they are annoyed at his ?
Government's defensive reaction to the
charges involving Mr. Cortez and its
' ambivalent response to complaints
about the D.E.A.
The United States contends that the
Jalisco State judicial police tortured
Mr. Cortez after he was detained while
meeting an underworld informant on
Aug. 13, the day Mr. de la Madrid was
meeting with President Reagkri in
Washington.
But in Mexico, attention is switching,
away from the specifics of the Cortez
case toward broader questioning of the
role of the Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration here.
Foreign Ministry spokesmen have
contributed to the aura of mystery sur-
rounding the Drug Enforcement Ad-,
? ministration by asserting that they do:
not know bow many American narcot-
ics agents are in Mexico, even though
the ministry grants D.E.A. agents dip-
lomatic status and issues them with
credentials that specify their links to
the agency.
Embassy Issue 'Fact Sheet'
Similarly, while the Attorney Gen-
eral's Office and its Federal Judicial
Police have long worked closely with
local operatives of the Drug Enforce-
ment Agency, its spokesman implied
some illegality by asserting that there
was no agreement between the two
countries covering activities of the
agency here.
In response, the United States Em-
bassy here issued a "fact sheet" Fri-
day in which it noted that "as early as
1930, representatives of the two Gov-
ernments exchanged diplomatic notes
establishing this cooperation."
"Currently," it added, "there are
over 50 bilateral agreements between
the United States and Mexico which
provide for cooperative efforts to curb
illegal traffic of narcotics."
Mexico's response to the dispute ap-
pears to reflect its traditional sensi-
tivity to perceived efforts by the United
States to interfere in its internal af-
fairs. On his Washington visit, for ex-
ample, Mr. de la Madrid rejected an
?
I ? ?
American request that United States.
, aircraft be allowed to chase drug-car-j
rying planes that flee south across the
border into Mexico.'
But at the same time, politicians said
'Mexico was also reacting to the wide-
spread belief that recent criticism by
Washington of its anti-drug perform-
ance formed part of a broader Amer-
ican strategy to press the de la Madrid
administration to change both its eco-
nomic, and foreign policies.
"De la Madrid knows the importance
that Washington is giving-to narcotics
and Wants to do his best, but he also has
to operate in ?a highly charged domestic
political context," a well-placed politi-
cian noted..
For the Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration, whose agents need to be incon-
spicuous to penetrate the shadowy
world of informants, police and traf-
fickers, the recent spotlight of atten-
tion is also clearly unwelcome.
Although the agency refuses to give
any details of its operation here, it is
believed to have some 30 operatives
working out of the embassy in Mexico
City and the consulates in Guadalaja-
ra, Merida, Monterrey and Hermosillo.
It recently closed its office in Mazatlan
. after death threats, but its agents con-
tinue to visit the Pacific tourist resort.
Diplomatic sources said the agency's
two main functions here were to chan-
nel information on narcotics move-
ments through Mexico received from
Drug Enforcement Administration
officers in the United States and else-
where in Latin America and to gather
theirpwn intelligence in Mexico itself.
"The Americans work here the way
they always operate," said a former
Mexican official with knowledge of the
agency's operations. "They buy infor-
mation, double-check it and then act on
Diplomatic sources said that, in or-
der to work with informants, Drug En-
forcement Administration agents here
must speak fluent Spanish and, in prac-
tice, many ? like Mr. Cortez and En-
rique: Camarena Salazar, the agent
who was slain in Guadalajara last year
? are of Mexican or Hispanic extrac-
tion. .
The agents have no. 'authority to
make arrests, carry out interrogations
or seize drug shipments, but they can
carry weapons when accompanying
Mexican police on operations or stake-
outs? the sources said, adding that
these:weapons are duly registered with
Mexican military authorities.
Corruption Is a Problem
Although-Mr. Cortez was himself un-
armed, the informant who was. ar-
rested with him in Guadalajara was
Illegally carrying a Soviet-made AK-47
automatic rifle and an Israeli-made
Uzi submachine gun and was driving a.
car with false number plates.
But according to the sources, the ?
Drug Enforcement Administration'S
main problem in recent years has been
to determine which Mexican police of-
ficials can be trusted with secret infor-
mation on the movement of drug ship-
ments or the whereabouts of narcotics
traffickers.
The?agency works mainly with the
Federal Judicial Police, but at least 10
former senior commandersJare now in
jail on charges of collaborating with
traffickers. And the sources said con-
nivance with traffickers is:still greater
where local. and state po)ice are in-
volved'.
Significantly, the sources said that
when Mr. Cortez was in the, custody of
the Jalisco State police, his interroga-
tors focused their questions on the ac-
tivities of the Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration in Guadalajara, demand-
ing to know not only the names and ad-
dress of other agents but also the iden-
titities.of police officers and traffickers
who are currently under investigation
by the agency.
in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/25 CIA-RDP98-01394R00020003-003"7-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/25: CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030037-5
STAT.'
No Pullbacks, Officials Say
SpectoJ to no New Yort Thom
? WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 ? Although
American drug agents abroad face
mounting threats from wealthy, well-
armed drug traffickers, Government
officials say they have no intention of
pulling back from foreign countries.
The officials said the Drug Enforce-
ment -Administration agents who are
assigned to American embassies
around the world gather valuable,ligenct on the drug trade from foreign
police departments and informants.
They alsb help in the training of foreign
drug enforcement agents and with such
efforts as the eradication of drug crops.
"I believe we're appropriately de-
ployed right now," said David L. Wes-
trate, the Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration's Assistant Administrator for
Operations. "If we were to pull back
from any place, I think it would hurt us.
We would lose a lot of investigative
coordination."
No Withdrawal From Mexico
Last week, Mr. Westrate met with
*senior D.E.A. officials from Mexico to
review the agency's presence in that
country atter two attacks on American
drug agents agents there in the last 18
months. One of the agents, Victor Cor-
tez Jr., was arrested and tortured in a
jail cell in Guadalajara last week, ac-
cording to American officials. The
other, Enrique Czunarena Salazar, was
kidnapped and slain in February 1985
while working in the same region.
According to a Drug Enforcement
Administration official, the officials
considered pulling D.E.A. agents out of
Mexico but concluded with a decision to
maintain the agency's presence there.
The attacks in Mexico are only the
most recent examples of the increasing
violence directed against American
drug agents abroad. In recent years,
security problems have several times
prompted the Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration to remove its agents from
Bolivia. In addition, in 1979, the wife of
an agent in Thailand was -killed by an
unknown assailant.
Risks to Agents Grow
According to Mr. Westrate, the agen-
cy's successes, combined with a sharp
rise in wealth and power of drug traf-
fickers, poses heightened risks to the
agents abroad.
, "From my personal experience, and
' I have been involved in this for 23
years, today it's much more dangerous
, than when! began," he said. "It's been
a steady progression in that direction."
In Mexico, that danger has worsened
because of the corruption of some of the
local police..In both attacks on D.E.A.
agents, local police,in Jalisco were im-
plicated. And eafilrevt-this year, John C.
Lawn, the agency's administrator, told
Congress that the federal police official
dispatched to direct the Camarena in-
vestigation by the Mexicaat.rwas al-
most immediately bribed by the traf-
fickers.
The United States has stationed drug
agents in various countries for more
than 50 years. Beginning in the 1970's
and continuing under the Reagan Ad-
ministration, the Drug Enforcement
Administration has significantly ex-
panded that presenci: In the last three
years, according to the agency, the
number of agents has grown 25 per-
cent, to a total of 250.
, Wide Range of Activities-- ,
?
Under a 1976 la*, American drug
agents are prohibited from joining
their foreign counterparts during an
arrest, and they are not allowed to be
present during the questioning of any
American citizen arrested in a foreign
country without written permission
from the suspect.
'A report to Congress by the Drug En-
forcement Administration in 1984 said
the agents can still engage in a wide
range of activities, including surveil-
lance of drug traffickers, development
of undercover sources, distribution of
investigative leads to the host coun-
tries, and interviews on the scene with
foreigners who have been arrested.
The agents thus play both overt and
covert roles, a situation that can some-
times lead to dangerous situations. In
Beirut in the mid-1970's, for example, a
Drug Enforcement Administration
agent was kidnapped and held by an
Arab militia for 24 hours because its
members believed he was an agent for
' the Central Intelligence Agency, ac-
cording to a former D.E.A. official.
The agent was released after the Leba-
nese authorities assured the militia
that the captive did not work for the
Drug agents abroad work out of
American embassies and report to the
American ambassador or his deputies
In each countrtilough the Drug En-
forcement Administration maintains
control over operations. If the ambas-
sador determines that the agency's ac-
tivities threaten relations with the
country, he can suspend or terminate
them.
In the Bahamas in the early 1980's,
for instance, the American ambassa-
dor called off a plan to lure a drug traf-
ficker into a boat and then arrest him
atter it drifted into international
waters, according to law enforcement
officials.
"The D.E.A. and the State Depart- '
ment candidly have had different mis-
sions for as long as I can remember,"
said Peter B. Bensinger, the adminis-
trator of the agency from 1976 to 1981.
"In some cases, D.E.A. was viewed as
potential diplomatic problem because
it was raising issues that caused con-
cern in Mexico and elsewhere."
According to present and former offi-
cials of the Drug Enforcement Admin-
istration, posting to a foreign country is
a considered a prestigious assignment
within the agency and is usually given
to more senior agents with 7 to 10
years' experience. Language skills are
considered essential.
The officials said that there was no
single set of personality characteris-
tics Shared by those who accept the for-
eign posts, but that generally such
agents would be those who are most
able ?? and willing.? to work under ad-
verse conditions. Most of the D.E.A.'s
overseas forces are spread out among
small offices staffed by between one
and five people, and officials said the
agents have more autonomy that those
assigned to a major American city.
"You looked for people who could
produce and produce on their own and
who were exceptionally reliable, and
could stay out of trouble, both person-
ally and professionally," said John T.
Cusack, the chief of staff of the House
Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse
and Control. From 1973 to 1978, Mr. Cu-
sack was chief of the D.E.A.'s interna-
tional operations and during his career
as a drug agent he worked in Europe
and the Middle East. .
, Local Police a Factor
Mr. Cusack said some of the develop-
ing countries, particularly those in
Latin America, pose particular chal-
lenges to the agents because they must
rely: so heavily on sources developed
within the country.
"The effectiveness of the D.E.A. in a
country is based on the effectiveness of
the police," he said. "They're in the
country to work effectively to suppress
the traffic, promote eradication, and to
interrupt and intercept shipments."
In the case of Mexico, he said, "the
D.E.A. down there is basically forced
right now to be a narcotics intelligence
collection unit and only periodically
can they get the type of cooperation
from the local police that you need to
get something done." ..
A State Department official said,
however, that senior Mexican authori-
ties remain supportive of the Drug En-
forcement Administration's presence,
even though the recent incidents have
stirred anti-American sentiment in
Mexico.
"It's obvious there are Mexicans who
don't like it," the official said. "For
some, it's because it hurts their com-
mercial interests. For others it's a le-
gitimate question of national sover.
eignty. Some people say, 'Why do we
need foreign cops?'"
"The answer is obvious," he condi).
ued. "They need foreign police becaus(
their own police can't do the job."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/25: CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030037-5