Pubdate: Thu, 04 Jan 2001
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2001 El Paso Times
Contact:  P.O.Box 20, El Paso, Texas 79999
Fax: (915) 546-6415
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Author: Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times

MEXICAN LAW OFFICIALS FACE CORRUPTION CHARGES

JUAREZ -- The top federal law enforcement officials assigned to Chihuahua 
state and 15 agents under them have been arrested on charges of corruption 
by the nation's new Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha.

Officials said the federal attorney general's Chihuahua district director, 
Norberto J. Suarez Gomez, and deputy director, Jose M. Diaz Perez, were in 
custody Wednesday in connection with the alleged sale of positions within 
the attorney general's office.

The posts to which Suarez and Diaz were assigned are the U.S. equivalent of 
FBI district director and assistant director. They also served on the 
Border Liaison Mechanism, which includes law enforcement officials from the 
El Paso-Juarez region.

It has been speculated that some top law enforcement positions in Mexico 
were treated like franchises to be sold and bought by the highest bidders. 
However, this is the first time border officials have been charged with 
selling a federal post. The posts are coveted because they can lead to 
lucrative partnerships with organized crime or access to valuable 
contraband, authorities have said.

"This is a positive sign on the part of the Vicente Fox administration," 
said Richard Schwein, former special agent in charge of the El Paso FBI 
office. "The question is whether the authorities can be successful and make 
the charges stick."

Mexican President Vicente Fox, who took control Dec. 1, promised during his 
campaign to crack down on corruption by officials.

In a statement, Mexican authorities said Suarez and Diaz were detained Dec. 
30 "behind the attorney general's office (in Mexico City) where (Suarez) 
was to meet (Diaz) to give him $500,000 so that (Diaz) could get a 
different position."

Authorities said Suarez told Diaz that the money was intended for Alfonso 
Navarrete Prida, the national deputy attorney general in Mexico City 
overseeing general coordination and development. Navarrete and Suarez 
denied the allegations.

Authorities said Diaz cooperated in the investigation but was denied 
witness-protection status "because he would not say where the money came from."

Although Mexican federal authorities oversee most drug-related 
investigations, federal officials have not solved any of the hundreds of 
drug executions and abductions in Juarez attributed to the Carrillo Fuentes 
drug organization. They also have not arrested any major drug dealers since 
Gilberto "El Grenas" Ontiveros Lucero was jailed in 1989.
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