DRUG AGENT VIGIL STEPPING DOWN

He Is Praised for Strengthening Ties

When Michael Vigil started his career as a drug enforcement agent, he knew
little about the traffickers he was hired to investigate.

Thirty years later, he is an expert in a field that has taken him to
outposts throughout the United States and Latin America.

In May, Vigil will step down as special agent in charge of the Drug
Enforcement Administration's San Diego office to become a vice president
for a military and law enforcement contractor in Washington, D.C. He
declined to name his new employer, saying the company had requested
anonymity until his contract is finalized.

Although Vigil arrived in San Diego only a year and a half ago, other
federal officials said he had succeeded in winning the trust of his
counterparts in Baja California.

"He is likable and innovative, a forward thinker who pushed hard for joint
investigations between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement," said Miguel
Unzueta, an associate special agent in charge of immigration and customs
enforcement in San Diego.

Vigil also is credited with strengthening the DEA's ties with other U.S.
agencies, which sometimes compete for resources and investigations.

But Vigil's work hasn't always drawn positive reviews.

In 2001, the DEA's Caribbean office was accused of routinely falsifying its
claims of drug arrests and seizures during Vigil's tenure as head of the
office.

The agents who made the allegations said Vigil used the statistics to get
more resources for his office.

Vigil refused to discuss the incident other than to say he believed he was
criticized because of his outspokenness and passion for fighting drug crimes.

"I have been controversial," he said. "Why? Because if I believe I'm
standing on righteous ground I move forward - even if I know there are
going to be political ramifications."

Vigil, 53, joined the DEA in Albuquerque, N.M., in December 1973, seven
months after the agency was created. Considered upbeat and ambitious, he
rose quickly in the agency's ranks, winning sought-after posts in Sonora,
Mexico, and Medellin, Colombia.

During his 3^-year stint in Colombia, the CIA received information that
Vigil's office had been targeted by an urban rebel group with links to drug
traffickers.

The United States closed the office and moved Vigil to Colombia's northern
coast, yet Vigil still managed to oversee the capture of two major drug
traffickers.

Vigil grew up in the tiny town of Espanola, N.M., which also was the home
of Errol J. Chavez, Vigil's predecessor in the San Diego office.

Chavez, who was transferred to the DEA's Phoenix office, was known as a
no-nonsense drug warrior who saw little value in media coverage of his
office. He also had little patience for Washington bureaucrats and said so
in his last interview before he left San Diego.

But Vigil had no criticism for the agency that he joked he married 30 years
ago.

"I don't think the drug war is failing because I don't think of it as a
drug war," he said. "All wars have an end and what we do is somewhat of a
permanent campaign."