CONSUL CRITICAL OF DRUG CASES

Diplomatic Office Wants Mexicans Cleared In Fake-Cocaine Busts

The Mexican Consulate on Wednesday questioned Dallas police and the Dallas
County district attorney's procedures related to drug busts in which seized
evidence contained little or no illegal substances.

Prosecutors have identified 10 drug-delivery cases in which the evidence
did not contain illicit drugs but instead ground Sheetrock. An additional
14 pending cases are based on evidence that contains amounts of drugs that
were too small to quantify.

An unsigned news release asked District Attorney Bill Hill to drop pending
cases and withdraw charges "against all Mexican nationals who
plea-bargained for fear of serving a long prison sentence."

"We also ask the DA to take the necessary steps in conjunction with the
Immigration and Naturalization Service to [ensure] that those Mexican
nationals who pleaded guilty ... can return to the United States."

Of the 19 people identified recently by the district attorney's office,
four men have been deported to Mexico.

Two men were deported while out on bond and awaiting trial, one was
deported just after his case was dismissed, and a fourth man was deported
after receiving probation from an agreed plea on a lesser charge.

A fifth defendant is to be deported after he finishes a 240-day sentence on
a plea bargain.

"We consider that the DPD and the DA have an obligation to clear up the
errors and possible irregularities which were committed against Mexican
nationals," the consulate's statement said.

Also on Wednesday, state Rep. Domingo Garcia, a candidate for mayor, said
he would ask the Texas Rangers to investigate the problems with cocaine
arrests.

Mr. Garcia said he was going to delay his request for intervention until he
heard how Dallas police planned to respond to claims that 24 criminal cases
were in doubt.

"But it has been 48 hours, and there has been silence, except from the DA's
office saying they are not going to prosecute anybody else," he said.

City Council member James Fantroy said Wednesday he would convene a special
meeting of his public safety committee to examine reports that almost half
of the cocaine seized by Dallas police in 2001 turned out to be ground
Sheetrock.

Mr. Fantroy backed off from that statement later in the day after speaking
to Police Chief Terrell Bolton. He said he would wait for the department's
findings before deciding whether to convene the committee.

"I am real concerned, because you are talking about whether our Police
Department can be trusted," Mr. Fantroy said earlier Wednesday. "I want the
citizens of Dallas to trust this Police Department."

Chief Bolton has initiated a public integrity investigation of his
department's relationship with paid informants, who set up or carried out
the drug deals. He has also defended his officers, saying the arrested
people were trying to peddle phony cocaine and methamphetamines.

Mr. Fantroy said he had not talked with Mitchell Rasansky, the committee's
vice chairman.

Mr. Rasansky said later Wednesday that he had talked with Mr. Fantroy about
the special meeting and supported it.

"This is really bothersome," Mr. Rasansky said. "We need to look into it.
City Council members get memos if a stop sign is down. We didn't get
anything about this."

In another development, WFAA-TV (Channel 8) on Tuesday broadcast a
videotape of a drug bust in August in which an estimated $7 million of what
was purported to be cocaine was seized in what was said to have been one of
the biggest drug busts in Dallas history.

The case is now being reviewed.

The video shows that following a conversation with an undercover officer
and a confidential informant, two men drive away and are arrested.

Chief Bolton said in a written statement that Dallas police could not
discuss the case because of an ongoing internal investigation.

He said the tape had been seen by an investigator in the department's
public integrity unit. The chief said it was the practice of the department
to use various surveillance techniques, including video cameras, during
undercover operations.

Staff writers Tim Wyatt and Tiara M. Ellis contributed to this report.