Pubdate: Thu, 17 Feb 2011
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2011 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Randal C. Archibold

MEXICANS KNEW THEY SHOT U.S. AGENTS

MEXICO CITY -- The gunmen who attacked two American law enforcement 
officials in Mexico on Tuesday, killing one and wounding the other, 
knew they were firing on foreign officers but proceeded anyway, 
current and former American officials said Wednesday.

But an important unresolved question is whether the Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement agents were attacked because of their work -- 
more than one Mexican drug gang has expressed interest in killing 
American officers -- or for another reason, like an attempt to steal 
their dark and presumably armored S.U.V., a vehicle favored by drug gangs.

The Justice and Homeland Security Departments announced on Wednesday 
the creation of a task force to work with Mexican federal authorities 
to investigate the shooting, which killed Jaime Zapata and wounded 
his colleague, Victor Avila. Mr. Zatapa was the first American 
immigration agent to be killed in Mexico.

The men were shot as they traveled in their vehicle, which had 
diplomatic plates, on a main highway to Mexico City from San Luis 
Potosi, about 265 miles to the north. Mr. Avila was released from an 
American hospital on Wednesday after being treated for gunshot wounds 
to his legs.

American and Mexican officials would not comment about the reason for 
the shooting, saying they had not yet determined a motive.

Alonzo Pena, a retired Immigration and Customs Agent who served as 
its representative in Mexico until 2009, said law enforcement 
officials had told him that the two men were taking equipment to 
another team of agents when they encountered the gunmen. They rolled 
down a window to identify themselves and were shot, Mr. Pena said.

Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, said the agents 
"were pursued by numerous cartel members and run off the road."

"When the agents identified themselves as American diplomats, the 
cartel members responded by opening fire on the officers," Mr. McCaul 
said, adding that "this tragic event is a game changer" that "should 
be a long overdue wake-up call for the Obama administration that 
there is a war on our nation's doorstep."

American and Mexican officials, who have said that law enforcement 
relations between the two countries are at record strength, rushed to 
pledge their cooperation. The bitter history of the last American 
agent to be killed in Mexico, Enrique Camarena of the Drug 
Enforcement Administration in 1985, is still raised in discussions 
about cross-border relations.

After Mr. Camarena's death, American officials accused the Mexican 
police of complicity and whisked one suspect out of Mexico for trial 
in the United States.

Mr. Pena said that compared with the 1980s, relations between the 
nations' law enforcement agencies "are like day and night."

"I think they can handle this," he said of the Mexican authorities. 
"But we will also help them with a lot of resources."

The immigration and customs agency is expanding in Mexico. There are 
30 agents in the country now -- part of a large contingent of 
American agents here -- and the agency has proposed adding a dozen 
more to help train the Mexican police and to investigate smuggling cases.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake