TIJUANA OFFICER ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING

Pot Found At His Otay Mesa Home

A Tijuana police officer who owns a home in Otay Mesa is accused of
directing a smuggling ring that regularly moved loads of marijuana across
the border.

Rosalio Daniel Martinez Fajardo, 30, was arrested Wednesday at his Otay
Mesa home, where U.S. authorities seized more than 1,100 pounds of
marijuana, officials said. His wife, a U.S. citizen, was also arrested. And
a number of other people were indicted in the case.

In two indictments unsealed yesterday, Martinez is accused of recruiting
drivers to move small loads of marijuana across the border between November
1998 and February 1999. The marijuana was packed into spare tires and
secret compartments built into cars and a van; then it was stored in
Martinez's home and in a Spring Valley house, said Assistant U.S. Attorney
Edward Weiner.

After enough loads had accumulated in the stash houses, the marijuana was
sold to other San Diego distributors for up to $375 per pound, Weiner said.

Gretchen Von Helms, Martinez's defense attorney, said her client, who does
not have a criminal record, was prepared to fight the charges.

"His family is very shocked at the news, and he's very upset," she said.

Martinez's wife, Claudia Amalia Alvarez, is accused of helping her husband
arrange the transportation and distribution of the marijuana.

She was released yesterday on a $100,000 bond because she has a liver
condition and is three months pregnant. The couple have three young children.

Martinez agreed to stay in jail for now so his wife could be released on
bond, Von Helms said. Prosecutors plan to argue at an upcoming hearing that
Martinez should be held without bond because he might flee the county.

Also indicted and arrested were Alvarez's brother, Oscar Alvarez Tostado
Jr., 23, of San Diego; Alejandro Antonio Beltran, 22, of Chula Vista; and
Jesus Rubalcaba Bermudez, 27, of Imperial Beach.

Seven others, most of them residents of Tijuana, remained at large.

The investigation was started after U.S. officials seized about 200 pounds
of marijuana at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in November 1997.

Federal authorities eventually seized five more loads that totaled 265 pounds.

Weiner said the smuggling ring probably specialized in small loads in the
hope of avoiding detection by U.S. authorities.

Federal authorities recorded dozens of Martinez's telephone conversations.
In one, they say, he arranged to use vehicles with switched license plates.

Von Helms said she was concerned that the case against her client relied on
phone conversations taped two years ago.

"We might not be able to locate witnesses who may be able to help us," she
said.

Federal officials said they plan to take possession of Martinez's house,
which was worth $167,500 when he bought it in 1997.

Weiner said U.S. agents believe that Martinez is a captain on Tijuana's
municipal police force.

Lorenzo Garibay, a spokesman with the Tijuana police department, said he
thinks Martinez may have held the position of captain during a previous
administration. He declined to comment specifically on Martinez's arrest.

"Anyone who violates the law should have to pay the price," he said.

Garibay said that Tijuana authorities cannot control the outside activities
of police officers.

When an officer "leaves work and commits a crime, then it is something that
falls under his own responsibility, and we don't have anything to do with
it because it's their private life," Garibay said.

If convicted, Martinez and his wife face up to life in prison and a $6
million fine.

Staff writer Anna Cearley contributed to this report.