DEA probes perjury allegations in murder case

BY FREDRIC N. TULSKY

Los Angeles Times

Twelve years after a United States drug agent was kidnapped, tortured and
murdered in Mexico, evidence has emerged that federal prosecutors relied on
perjured testimony and false information, casting a cloud over the
convictions of three men now serving life sentences.

The evidence suggests that the U.S. government, in its zeal to solve the
heinous killing of Enrique Camarena, induced corrupt former Mexican police
to implicate top officials there in a conspiracy to plan his kidnapping.

Their statements not only were critical to winning convictions against the
three, including the brotherinlaw of the former president; they also have
tarnished the reputations of Mexican political figures and strained
relations between the two countries.

Attorneys for one of the implicated officials developed new information
that prompted the Los Angeles Times to undertake its own examination of the
Camarena case four months ago. Results of that inquiry raise questions
about the integrity of the Drug Enforcement Administration investigation
and prosecutions in Los Angeles:

A star prosecution witness says he perjured himself after U.S. law
enforcement officials coached him into falsely accusing the three
defendants and Mexican officials of plotting the kidnapping.

Portions of the testimony by key witnesses appear false. For example, two
witnesses said the kidnapping was plotted inside a Guadalajara, Mexico,
hotel suite, but a recent visit to the hotel indicates no such suite exists.

Key informants received more financial and legal help than the jury was
told about. Some informants were provided final lumpsum payments of
thousands of dollars after the trial had ended. Records show a DEA agent
helped another witness escape prosecution on felony charges of spousal abuse.

The DEA operative who helped investigate Camarena's murder and bring
witnesses to this country said some members of the prosecution team were so
eager to build their case that they ignored warnings that certain witness
statements were suspect.

The former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, John Gavin, who oversaw the early
Camarena investigation, has come to believe that witnesses falsely
implicated one of his allies in the drug wars, Mexico's former government
minister.

``My record in the war against illegal drugs and the corruption they
engender is known,'' said Gavin. ``In this instance, however, I am saddened
and embarrassed to note that it is officials within the U.S. Justice
Department who are dead wrong. It is another example of how drugs corrupt
on both sides of the border.''

Based on the allegations, the DEA recently launched an internal
investigation into the Camarena probe, which was closed in 1995. Deputy
Director James Milford said the agency could not comment about any aspect
of the case until the review is completed.

Officials at the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said any new
evidence would be thoroughly reviewed.

Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard E. Drooyan said his office was
constrained from discussing details of the case because they would probably
become issues in court.

Expressing ``great confidence'' in the ``integrity and judgment'' of the
trial prosecutors, he said they would never knowingly encourage perjury and
would have taken steps to assure all testimony was truthful.

Attorneys for the convicted men said they will seek retrials based on the
new evidence.

Published Sunday, October 26, 1997, in the San Jose Mercury News