BORDER AGENTS CHARGE MEXICAN POLICE ESCORT DRUG TRAFFICKERS TO U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030036-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2013
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: September 20, 1988
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

and Approved For Release 2013/07/25 CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030036-6 7 J
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niified
Doraer agents charge'
Mexican police escort
drug traffickers to U.S.
Forrest puts the finishing touches on a
er home in Winterport, Maine.
AP
WASHINGTON (UPI) Members of
a respected group of U.S. border agents
are: charging that , Mexican Federal
Police, "armed with automatic weapons,",.
have been escorting drug traffickers
across the border into Texas, an internal
. memo revealed yesterday.
. The charges came in an internal memo
attached to a letter sent to Rep. Glenn
English, D-Okla., from the Fraternal
Order of Border Agents, a' group of
mostly retired law enforcement officers
who served at least three years on the
Mexican border.
? John Van Diver, a former Drug
Enforcement Administration official and
president of the group, said the allega-
tions were brought out in a discussion at
the organization's recent convention in El
Paso.
He said he could not confirm the accu-
racy. of the charges.
The memo read, in part, 'frained
Mexican federal agents, using the latest
in radio and scanner-equipped cars and
armed with automatic weapons, have
been providing transit security for huge
loads of domestically produced mari-
juana, and heroin and in-transit cocaine.
"Some of these agents and their drug-
trafficking associates have purchased
and now occupy ranches and riverside
houses in Starr and Zapata counties in
Texas," the memo said. "These places are
used as havens for the drugs being suc-
cessfully smuggled at night in this area."
A spokeswoman for the Mexican
Embassy in Washington said officials
there did not know of the memo or any
such incident, and would have no com-
ment.
The memo, attached to a letter that
expresses concern about an alleged
shortage of anti-drug agents on the bor-
der, said that in mid-August a large load
of marijuana and cocaine was smuggled
below Falcon Dam in Starr County
between .Laredo and McAllen near the
border of Texas.
"Guards armed with machine guns
and wearing :45-caliber pistols (which
are lawful in Mexico only for the military
and the federal policel went first to the
U.S. side and set up a perimeter defense,"
the letter said.
"Then they provided an armed escort
to the house where it was stored," the
group said.
Neil Lageman of the Customs Service
said the Van Diver's group is comprised
"Some of these agents
and their
drug-trafficking
associates have
purchased and now
occupy ranches and
riverside houses in Starr
and Zapata counties in
Texas," the memo said.
of "knowledgeable people. They are
pretty well thought of." Jim Mahan, a
Customs Service spokesman, said the
agency had begun investigating the alle-
gations.
Bill Deac, a DEA spokesman, said the
agency "is aware of the letter and the
incident mentioned ... but we're not
elaborating."
But when asked about the truthfulness
of allegations .that Mexican authorities
had escorted drug smugglers across the
border, Ken Miley, DEA's assistant spe-
cial agent in charge in McAllen, Texas,
said, :I'm familiar with it. It has hap-
pened."
3ubpoenaed agent's-espionage-trial
stified earlier in Mr. kililler's,trial that
e FBI would never use one of its own
ents to infiltrate the KGB.
Mr. Barron, who wrote "KGB lbday
e Hidden Hand," testified that the FBI
iided using infiltrators because, if dis-
,ered, the agent could release vital
irmation during interrogation.
he subpoena had apparently not yet??
n served on Mr. Webster, as no govern-
it motion had been filed to quash it.
subpoena and affidavit were in the
ds of a court security officer and
e not available to reporters.
earlier testimony, an FBI supervisor
ified that Mr. Miller's boss asked him
insider the moral and spiritual con-
tences" of committing espionage
nst the United States:,
1ring five days in whieh agents ques-
'.d Mr. Miller, fired him and searched
tome' one year ago, It Miller had
-al ? office Meetings rith Richard
ting, special agent in 'charge of the
kngeles FBI. office,' Said P. ? Bryce
tensen, Mr. Bretzing's assistant.
'
Christensen was called to the stand
fense attorneys to exialore Mr.Mil-
\tate of mind during the time he was '
questioning for allegedly handing
FBI documents over to Soviet KGB
agents.
Mr. Miller, 48, is accused of passing the
classified documents to Svetlana
Ogorodnikov, a Soviet emigre Who
became his lover, in a deal for $65,000 in
cash and gold. If convicted he could face
life imprisonment.
Mrs. Ogorodnikov and husband,
Nikolay, pleaded guilty during their trial
and are serving prison terms. ?
? Under questioning by defense
attorney Joel Levine, Mr. Christensen
, described a meeting that Mr. Miller had
with Mr. Bretzing three days before his
Oct. 2 arrest on espionage charges. The
FBI had already questioned Mr. Miller
for two days on whether he had indeed
handed any documents to Mrs. Ogorod-
nikov.
"Mr. Bretzing requested that Mr.
Miller consider the moral and spiritual
consequences of his actions:' said Mr.
Christensen, who like Mr. Miller and Mr.
Bretzing is a member of the Mormon
church.
"Mr. Bretzing talked about the process
of repentance and the necessity of res-
titution,"Mr. Christensen said, noting
'that was about three days before Miller's
arrest
,
4.
"By the process of repentance, you
mean a type of action within the Mormon
church?" Mr. Levine asked.
"Yes, I do," Mr. Christensen responded.
The next day, Mr. Christensen said, Mr.
Bretzing asked Mr. Miller if he had
thought over their conversation.
"Mr. Bretzing also stated that Mr.
Miller had come forward volutharily
[about his association with Mrs. Ogorod-
nikov] and if he had done what the allega-
tions said he did ... he should consider
telling the government so a damage
assessment could be done:' Mr. Christen-
sen testified,
The FBI charged Mr. Miller with espi-
onage two days later, on Oct. 2, 1984, but
Mr. Miller's defense attorneys now say
his statements about handing secrets to
the Russians were given under duress,
that he was coerced by pressure from his
Mormon superiors.
. The defense has also suggested that
despite a poor career record, Mr.Miller's
membership in the church may have
spared his career.
At the time of his arrest, however, Mr.
Miller had been excommunicated from
the church, allegedly for having an affair
with another woman, other than Mrs.
Ogorodnikov.
' ^ - Pnr Release 2013/67/251 CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030036-6
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