[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 72 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1049-E1050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    THE SECURITY SITUATION IN MEXICO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 5, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the Washington Times front page story 
yesterday about the threats to American law enforcement agents involved 
in fighting drugs along and across the border with Mexico should be a 
cause for alarm for all of us.
  It strains credibility that the Administration again this past March 
``fully certified'' Mexico as cooperating with us in the battle against 
illicit drugs. The recent stories on the deteriorating security 
situation along the border from drug related violence and threats 
against our law enforcement agents make it clear--the Mexican 
authorities are just not doing enough.
  I have long argued that the safety and security of our law 
enforcement agents who every day risk their lives for us and our 
communities, should be of paramount concern in our bilateral 
relationship in the fight against drugs. These latest accounts of 
threats and inadequate resolution of the issue of the security of our 
law enforcement agents underscores that we have a long way to go.

           [From the Washington Times, Thurs., June 4, 1998]

               U.S. Agents Warned of Mexican Retaliation

                            By Jamie Dettmer

       The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has pulled its 
     agents out of Tijuana, and the Justice Department is warning 
     American lawmen on both sides of the 2,000-mile-long Mexican 
     border to protect themselves more than ever.
       The new threat they face isn't violence from narcotics 
     traffickers, but hostility from their law enforcement 
     counterparts in the Mexican federal judicial police.
       Working relations between American and Mexican lawmen 
     seldom have been smooth--distrust on both sides all too often 
     undermines cooperation in the fight against drug smuggling 
     and illegal immigration.
       But as a result of a recent U.S. undercover money-
     laundering sting that nabbed several Mexican bankers, the bad 
     blood has roiled to a pitch not seen since the murder 13 
     years ago of a DEA agent in Mexico, U.S. law-enforcement 
     sources say.
       According to a report by Insight magazine, a sister 
     publication of The Washington Times, an urgent warning was 
     sent Tuesday to all U.S. law-enforcement agencies with 
     officers working along the border or in Mexico to stay alert 
     ``retaliation'' from the Mexican police as a consequence of 
     the sting, known as Operation Casablanca.
       High-level DEA sources say they can't rule out physical 
     assaults on U.S. lawmen operating in Mexico or visiting on 
     official business.

[[Page E1050]]

       The Mexican police are aggrieved by U.S. investigators 
     luring Mexican bankers to America for arrest and are 
     infuriated that American lawmen worked undercover on Mexican 
     territory without the Mexican government's approval. U.S. 
     authorities say they didn't want to tip off the subjects of 
     their probe.
       As a precaution, the DEA has withdrawn all agents from a 
     joint U.S.-Mexico task force in Tijuana, the home city of the 
     Arellano Felix brothers, who control Mexico's second-largest 
     drug cartel. The retreat will disrupt investigations and 
     jeopardize special operations against the traffickers, say 
     DEA and U.S. Customs sources.
       ``We are basically facing a breakdown on the border,'' says 
     a senior California-based DEA agent. ``We have right now some 
     big operations going on against the Arellano Felixes--last 
     week we intercepted $4 million of their cash--and against a 
     Tijuana family who control amphetamine smuggling. Those ops 
     are endangered now.''
       The alert was issued when the El Paso Intelligence Center, 
     the federal law-enforcement intelligence clearing house, 
     noticed an abrupt rise in reports from various federal agents 
     of hostility from their Mexican counterparts. The federal 
     Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) later verified 
     the danger.
       The official warning sent by the Justice Department to the 
     U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service cautions, ``The 
     Mexican Federal Judicial Police may seek retaliation against 
     U.S. law-enforcement'' because of Casablanca.
       The warning goes on to say, ``Reliable information received 
     by the Los Angeles [ATF office] also indicates that Mexican 
     law enforcement intends to seek revenge . . . by ensuring 
     that any American law enforcement officer caught 
     committing any sort of infraction will be given `No 
     Slack,' and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent 
     possible under Mexican law.''
       INS intelligence also suggests that bitterness over 
     Operation Casablanca may not be limited to the Mexican 
     police. ``Feelings of injustice may manifest itself into the 
     Mexican military as well.''
       An INS spokesman refused to confirm or deny the 
     authenticity of the memo.
       Frustrated U.S. lawmen point to the hostility of their 
     Mexican counterparts as proof that DEA and Customs Service 
     agents should be allowed to carry their sidearms when 
     traveling south of the border on official business. Mexican 
     authorities won't allow it, and the U.S. and Mexican 
     governments have been locked in a fierce behind-the-scenes 
     diplomatic dispute over the issue for more than a year.
       The Mexicans have refused to budge. President Clinton's 
     antidrug chief, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, recently sided with the 
     Mexicans on the issue, infuriating Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, 
     New York Republican and chairman of the House International 
     Relations Committee, by suggesting that U.S. lawmen should be 
     satisfied with Mexican police protection.
       In May, Mr. Gilman slammed Gen. McCaffrey, arguing that DEA 
     agents couldn't entrust their lives to their Mexican 
     counterparts because drug cartels are growing more violent 
     and there is ``proven massive corruption among Mexican law 
     enforcement agencies.''
       A veteran DEA agent says he hasn't encountered such 
     hostility from Mexican police since the fallout from the 
     murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena by narcotics traffickers 
     in 1985. Some U.S. sources believe Mr. Camarena was killed 
     with the collusion of corrupt Mexican officials and police 
     officers.
       Mexican law enforcement officials reacted very badly later 
     when undercover DEA agents snatched a doctor in Mexico who 
     had been involved in torturing Mr. Camarena before his 
     murder.

     

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