Pubdate: Thu, 20 Apr 2006
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
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Address: Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260
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Copyright: 2006 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Author: James Pinkerton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

DRUG TASK FORCE LEADER ACCUSED OF SELLING PROTECTION

Indictments Say Agent And Partner Extorted Thousands From Traffickers

HARLINGEN - The deputy commander of a counter-narcotics task force in 
Laredo and a suspected accomplice allegedly extorted tens of 
thousands of dollars from drug traffickers, shielded them from other 
agents and gave them a place to store cocaine, according to a federal 
indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

Julio Alfonso Lopez, 45, of Zapata, was scheduled to appear before a 
federal magistrate today.

FBI agents arrested Lopez on Tuesday. His alleged accomplice, Meliton 
Valadez, 32, also of Zapata, was arrested Wednesday.

Lopez is accused of accepting four bribes totalling $44,500 from 
Veladez -- allegedly a middleman for drug traffickers -- in 2005, the 
indictment said.

"Although this is certainly not a proud moment for law enforcement in 
general, it does nevertheless underscore the commitment of good men 
and women to police themselves," said Don DeGabrielle, the U.S. 
attorney in Houston.

The Lopez arrest was "extremely disappointing" to longtime Webb 
County District Attorney Joe Rubio, whose office funds and oversees 
the multi-agency drug task force, a spokeswoman said.

Rubio "was sorry to hear this," district attorney spokeswoman Monica 
Perales-Garcia said. "Of course, we're going to cooperate fully. Mr. 
Lopez has been relieved of his duties."

Perales-Garcia confirmed that Lopez is the brother of former Zapata 
County Attorney Joe Lopez, who recently won the Democratic nomination 
as judge of the 49th State District Court in Laredo. The judge could 
not be reached by phone at his office late Wednesday.

Julio Lopez, a former investigator for the Zapata county attorney's 
office, was hired by the Laredo Multi-Agency Narcotics Taskforce in 
January 2005, Perales-Garcia said.

Norman Townsend, the agent in charge of the FBI office in Laredo, 
said the arrests were the "culmination of a yearlong investigation by the FBI."

FBI director John Mueller "has made combating public corruption at 
all levels one of the top priorities of the FBI ... so we have a 
considerable number of agents working on public corruption matters, 
especially down on the border," Townsend said. Townsend said the 
corruption inquiry is ongoing.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman