During the month of August, several stories were covered regarding corruption in various branches of law enforcement in Mexico. Some of those stories are summarized below:
U.S. Senators, including two from border states, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher in August criticizing Mexico's ability to control drug trafficking. The Senators asked the Secretary investigate reports that the Mexican Attorney General's office is rife with corruption and misusing U.S. DEA funds for combatting drug trafficking.
The letter mentions a July 30 Washington Post article regarding allegations
by Ricardo Cordero
Ontiveros, a former commander with the Mexican Attorney General's
National Institute to Combat Drugs (INCD), that corruption in the attorney general's
office is rampant. After Mr. Cordero's allegations were made public, he was arrested
by the attorney general's office on charges that he protected drug traffickers and
accepted bribes while serving as the head of an anti-drug unit in Tijuana. Before
his arrest, Mr. Cordero alleged that the attorney general's office is rife with corruption,
payoffs, and protection of drug traffickers and that U.S. funding for law enforcement
efforts to combat drug trafficking in Mexico is being wasted. In a recent Dallas
Morning News interview, Mr. Cordero is quoted as saying "The Mexican government
is putting on a show for the Americans. It's a deception, a farce. Every day, we
say we've done this, we've done that in the drug fight. It's pure fiction".
The Senators' concerns are also supported by a June GAO report which states that according to the DEA, drug traffickers in Mexico are using their wealth to corrupt police, judicial officials and to influence politicians. The letter mentions conflicting recent testimony before several Senate Committees in which the Administration has stated Mexico's anti drug efforts have intensified under President Zedillo.
On August 2, Secretary of State Christopher testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he believed the corruption problem was most prevalent at the lower ranks of government rather than the senior level. While stating that corruption is endemic in Mexico, Christopher praised President Zedillo and Attorney General Antonio Lozano for their efforts to deal with it.
The letter from the eight U.S. Senators asks Secretary Christopher to investigate the allegations of corruption made by Cordero against the Attorney General's Office and its police force.
In an unprecedented move, 737 agents with Mexico's Federal Judicial Police (PJF) and the National Institute to Combat Drugs (INCD) have been fired in a shake up of his own agency by Mexico's Attorney General, Antonio Lozano Garcia. The officers were removed for failing to meet ethical standards of the Attorney General's office, (Procuraduria General de la Republica or PGR). In addition, 22 of the 33 regional offices of the INCD were closed, the PJF was abolished and a new force, the Policia Federal de Investigacion y Apoyo Judicial (Federal Police of Investigation and Judicial Support), was created. These agencies fall under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General's Office. The PGR is in charge of fighting drug trafficking, corruption and other federal crimes. Some of the 737 agents have vowed to fight their ouster, according to reports in the Mexico City daily newspaper, Reforma.
The local Juarez administration of Mexican Customs has been levying high fines to travelers returning from the interior of Mexico who have exceeded their time limit for auto insurance coverage, according to reports in Norte. Since April a new law aimed at reforming customs was supposed to have prohibited "economic sanctions" against those who come forward. The new law prevents sanctions greater in value than the merchandise, in these cases, automobiles, and fines are not allowed to be applied retroactively. A paragraph in Article 183 of the Mexican Customs Law that was recently changed states that no economic fines may be applied to persons returning with imported vehicles.
The Juarez newspaper, Norte, reported that two cases are known to have taken place in the past four months in which Customs has imposed an illegal fine. A Customs official requesting anonymity has indicated that each week there are 20 cases of persons returning to the border with expired insurance on their vehicle. The Aduana at 33 kilometers is requiring these "expirations" to pay a high fine. Only in those cases where the accused indicates he knows of the new reforms are the vehicles released and the vehicle documents returned, signed by the local administrator, Hernan Farriols. In one case a gentleman who returned to the border after a year to take back his vehicle documents was told he had to pay a fine of 56,000 pesos ($8,000) when the vehicle, a 1986 Mazda, was purchased by the owner for only $800. In other cases the fines have ranged from 80,000 pesos to 5,000 pesos. And in some cases, the local Aduana administration reportedly scares people into believing that their houses or other property may be seized to guarantee payment of the high fines. Those who have experienced this problem at the local Aduana garrison are coming forward to alert the traveling public that imposing these fines is against the law.
Sources: Norte, El Paso Times, NM Senator Domenici's office.
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