Informant Killings Rare

McALLEN, Texas (AP) In the Rio Grande Valley, stories of
drugrelated killings appear on the evening news almost as regularly
as the weather report.

But in this booming narcotics corridor on the Mexico border, those
killings generally are the result of drug transactions gone bad,
authorities say. Less common, and more disturbing, is the murder of
a witness or informant whose testimony may be vital to nailing
traffickers.

This week, the battered body of a key witness in a federal drug trial
turned up across the border in Reynosa, Mexico another sign to
some that the drug trade is growing more violent.

``It's a very brutal atmosphere,'' said Mavis Dezulovich, a
spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshal's Service, which runs the
federal witness protection program. ``Just look at what you're
dealing with.''

Although U.S. authorities have not confirmed that the informant was
killed because of his impending testimony, drug agents admit they
are concerned the slaying could scare off other potential witnesses.

``It doesn't help us,'' said Alonzo Pena, chief of the U.S. Customs
Service office in Brownsville. He estimates that the majority of his
agents' drug cases are developed with informants.

``There are always threats, but it's very rare that an informant has
harm done to him,'' Pena said. ``When an event like this takes
place, it doesn't enhance our position in cultivating informants.''

On Tuesday, the body of Hector Salinas Guerra, 42, was found in a
grassy lot near a school in Reynosa, his arms and legs bound with
tape. His head was indented with a deep groove, possibly caused
by a pistol or bat, and his body was pummeled, resulting in multiple
fractures, Mexican police said.

A plastic bag, which police believe may have been used to suffocate
Salinas, lay near his body, along with his beeper.

Salinas was abducted Friday night from his family's secondhand
clothing store in south McAllen. Four men in clothing bearing
Mexican police insignias forced him into a truck at gunpoint and
sped off, witnesses told police.

Salinas was to testify this week in the federal drug trial of seven men
accused of smuggling about 3,000 pounds of marijuana across the
border.

He was a key player in a sting operation that helped bring down the
smuggling ring, authorities said. He agreed to help prosecutors after
drug agents found several hundred pounds of marijuana in the back
of his clothing store in April.

``It's possible he was kidnapped and killed to prevent him from
testifying. But if he were involved in the drug trade, it could have
been retaliation for previous actions,'' said Barry Abbott, who
heads the McAllen office of the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Federal authorities said several agencies, including DEA and
Customs, provide protection to witnesses or informants if they ask.
Salinas had not requested protection, Abbott said.

The same day Salinas' body was found, his son testified in his place.

Hector Hugo Salinas told jurors that he worked with his father and
five of the seven defendants, repackaging and storing marijuana
shipments in the back of his father's store.

Jurors never learned about Salinas' slaying and prosecutors have
declined to comment until the trial is over. The case went to the jury
Thursday.

Copyright Los Angeles Times