KINGSVILLE ALLEGATIONS REQUIRE FEDERAL PROBE

Serious allegations have been raised about the confluence of drug
trafficking and local politics in Kingsville.

These claims, detailed in recent Express-News reports, merit a full-scale
investigation by the FBI.

The ongoing saga features an unusual lawsuit filed by now-suspended City
Manager Hector Hinojosa. He charged that drug traffickers engineered a plot
to seize control of the City Commission and remove Police Chief Sam Granato.

Hinojosa's federal lawsuit, filed Jan. 13 and dismissed a little more than
two weeks later, also alleged that Kleberg County Sheriff Tony Gonzalez was
close friends with local drug dealers and wanted Granato out. Gonalez
denied the allegations.

The first step in the conspiracy, Hinojosa's suit alleged, was to suspend
or fire him because he was the chief's supervisor. After that, Granato
would be fired by a new city manager.

A transcript of a conversation between a drug dealer and an undercover
agent in San Antonio, which was submitted to the court, supports this
claim. It includes comments by the convicted dealer about taking over the
City Commission to get rid of Granato, the Express-News reported.

When U.S. District Judge Hayden Head Jr. dismissed his order that blocked
the commission from taking action against Hinojosa, the commission acted
quickly. Hinojosa was suspended for 30 days as a first step toward termination.

Head's dismissal of the lawsuit does not mean the charges were baseless,
but only that his court was not the place to ferret out the truth. A FBI
probe is the proper venue for an examination of the facts in this case.

Granato has told the Express-News that the FBI has been reluctant to launch
an investigation, but the charges are far too serious to be ignored.

The residents of Kleberg County deserve to know the truth, whatever it may be.