Pubdate: Fri, 5 Sep 1997 Source: Dallas Morning News Contact: Mexican agents accused of using plane to smuggle cocaine 18 jailed in first case alleging officers' use of counternarcotics aircraft By Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News MEXICO CITY Antidrug agents used a counternarcotics plane to smuggle 130 pounds of cocaine from the MexicoGuatemala border to Mexico City, but they were arrested when they landed at the airport, authorities said Thursday. Eighteen people have been jailed in connection with the case, which marks the first time agents have been arrested for using an antinarcotics aircraft to smuggle drugs. Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo said Thursday that the arrests should serve as a warning to others. "Any public servant who is discovered to be involved in crime will not only be fired, but charged," he said. "That is the only way to close the door on corruption." The episode, the latest in a string of embarrassments for Mexico's antidrug forces, underscores one of the difficulties of cleaning up the attorney general's office, said a U.S. official and expert on American drug policy in Mexico. "It's a Catch22. By doing the right thing, the Mexicans are highlighting how corrupt it is," said the official, who requested anonymity. "That's frustrating for us and frustrating for the Mexicans, too. They're probably thinking that maybe they'd be better off doing business the old way. That is, firing people without giving any public explanation. That way, they get rid of the problem and there's never any investigation." In other cases this year, Mexican antidrug police have been linked to everything from stealing cocaine shipments to accepting cash, bulletproof cars, cellular phones and jewelry from drug traffickers. Drug corruption scandals are not only embarrassing to the Mexican government, they are also politically damaging, analysts say. And the ruling powers in Mexico are paying a lot of attention to politics these days. That's because the political opposition now holds a majority in the lower chamber of the Mexican Congress, giving it the ability to call for independent investigations into corruption. With the opposition digging into corruption, analysts say, it's going to be more difficult in the coming years for unscrupulous officials to cover up illegal acts. There is also the diplomatic pressure from Washington and the Mexicans are clearly feeling it. The State Department isn't due to evaluate Mexico's antidrug efforts until March and already Mexican officials are criticizing it. Mr. Madrazo said the State Department's policy of decertifying those countries that are judged as not fully cooperating in the antidrug fight "doesn't help at all" to boost joint U.S.Mexico efforts to pursue drug traffickers. Some American lawmakers have disputed that view, saying Mexico ought to have been decertified this year as a way of forcing the Mexican government to intensify its fight against traffickers. Decertification means a loss of some U.S. trade benefits and other sanctions. Tom Cash, a former highlevel official with the Drug Enforcement Administration said he believes that the certification debate can be counterproductive. This week's arrest of the antidrug agents "is not something to beat your chest and be proud of," he said. "But things could be worse. "You've got to step off the dance floor and look for signs of progress. And this is probably a good sign because at least these people were arrested," he said. "It would have been worse if nobody had reported it. When people stop reporting these incidents, then all you can do is throw your hands up and toss the baby and the bath water out." Another U.S. law enforcement official, who has spent years investigating Mexico's drug trade, agreed that the arrests are a positive sign. "The Mexican attorney general's office and the Mexican government in general are doing their best to eradicate corruption at all levels," he said. Some American officials will probably point to the case to show "how totally corrupt Mexico is. But no single country can cast stones. There is drug corruption in every country of the world." The cocaine smuggling affair began Tuesday, authorities say, when antidrug agents loaded 131.5 pounds or 59.8 kilos of cocaine onto an attorney general's plane in the Mexican town of Tapachula in the southern state of Chiapas. They then took off toward Mexico City. An anonymous caller told their superiors what was going on, and about 50 heavily armed federal police agents and soldiers were sent to Mexico City's international airport to greet the plane, described as a Grumman aircraft, tail number XCAA. The attorney general's office on Tuesday said little except that the "public servants" who had been in possession of cocaine were arrested. Further details began surfacing Wednesday and Thursday. It remains unclear who flew the plane, where on the aircraft the cocaine was hidden and how many agents participated in the smuggling. Authorities identified the suspects as: Pedro Espinosa Salva, Gerardo Ortiz Ponce, Arturo Balbuena Martinez, Julio Cesar Castellanos Martinez, Carlos Jorge Dominguez Albores, Ruben Partida Vargas, Edmundo Espindola Viera, Roberto Arce Gonzalez, Oscar Julio Elizalde Gutierrez, Jose Martin Torres Flores, Juan Manuel Barreda Loyola, Juan Antonio Reyes Ruiz, Enrique Rojas Flores, Edgar Mauricio Valenzuela Guzman, Severiano Segundo Olea, Norberto Miranda, Javier Gutierrez Rivera and Gilberto Martinez Ramirez. Mexico City's Reforma newspaper said the men were members of the Attorney General's Special Aerial Interdiction Team, formed in 1995. Most are pilots, said Eduardo Ibarrola, a deputy Mexican attorney general. "These arrests are very, very serious. They show just how rotten it is inside the attorney general's office," said Eduardo Valle, former head of a Mexican antidrug unit. "And there's still very much we don't know about the case. Who were these people? Who was responsible? How high up did this go?" asked Mr. Valle, who is writing a book on drug corruption in Mexico from 1988 to 1994.