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“THE SECURITY SITUATION IN MEXICO” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1049-E1050 on June 5, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE SECURITY SITUATION IN MEXICO
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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.
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.
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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